The late Mildred Boyd wrote this article about a man called Andres,
but better known as “The Straw Man.” Andres is the third generation
of his family in Ajijic to create artwork with straw, and commenced
to learn the craft when he was only seven years old.

8
Cover by Dani Newcomb

14 MEXICAN ODDITIES
Tom Clarkson has seen many unusual
things in Mexico, some humorous,
many which seem to perfectly capture
the character of our adopted country.

24 NEW YEAR’S FUN
Allen McGill looks in on a party boasting
a guest list that is literally to die for—
Oscar Wilde to Mae West, or from the
sublime to the ridiculous.

34 ANIMALS & FRIENDS
Julie D’Costa writes about the
people who serve as volunteers
with the Lakeside Wildlife Rescue
organization.

72 FICTION
Herbert Piekow remembers a weird
encounter that happened one lovely
late afternoon as he was sitting on a
park bench in Guadalajara.

74 HUMOR IN THE RAW
Gail Nott is invited to make her first visit
to a nudist camp—and spends a great
deal of her time staring up at either the
sky, the ceiling or anywhere else other
than what’s straight in front of her.

78 WRITERS CONFERENCE
Harriet Hart brings us up to date on
the 7th Annual Lake Chapala Writers
Conference to be held on January 26,
27 and 28. The Conference has gotten
better with each passing year.

El Ojo del Lago aparece los primeros cinco días de cada mes. (Out over
the first five days of each month)
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Autor 04-2007-111412131300-102 Control
14301. Permisos otorgados por la Secretaría de Gobernación (EXP. 1/432 “88”/5651
de 2 de junio de 1993) y SEP (Reserva
171.94 control 14301) del 15 de enero de
1994.
Distribución: Hidalgo 223 Chapala,
Jalisco, México.
All contents are fully protected by copyright
and may not be reproduced without the
written consent of El Ojo del Lago. Opinions
expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publisher or the
Editor, nor are we responsible for the claims
made by our advertisers. We welcome letters, which should include name, address
and telephone number.

nce the most
admired and
influential
country in the world, today it staggers from one
crisis to the next. Granted
that much of what ails it was
brought on by a disastrous
prior administration—but
President Obama has not
done enough in more than
a year and a half in office to
stem the bleeding.
There are, of course, many co-miscreants: Republicans more anxious in
bringing Obama down than in helping
the country, Democrats who opt-out
because the president has not honored all the promises he made in his
campaign, Tea Party Types who are big
on catchy slogans but short on specific
solutions. Caught in the middle are
the American people that have rarely
seemed so dispirited.
Discussing this with my friend (and
Ojo columnist) Paul Jackson, he suggested that I read Conrad Black’s acclaimed biography FDR—Champion
of Freedom. Black thinks FDR the most
monumental figure of the 20th century, an opinion shared by dozens of
famous biographers and historians.
What makes Black’s glowing appraisal
different is that he is a Conservative
who once owned and managed a media empire.
As most people know, Franklin
Roosevelt came into office on the heels
of the gravest economic depression
in American history and later was at
the helm through most of the Second
World War, the costliest, bloodiest war
in all of recorded history. Yet Roosevelt
and the American people rose to the
crisis in a way that inspired allies and
stunned enemies.
In the lead-up to the war, its armed
forces ranked 18th in total numbers. By
the end of the Second World War, it had
ten million men and women in uniform and had become the dominant
military and industrial power in the
entire world. It could never have been
done, however, without an American
home-front that had been inspired to
rediscover the very best in its national
character.
Little things stick in my mind. Ev-

6

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

eryone shared in the sacrifice. Shoes
had less leather, glasses less glass, faucets were made of cast iron instead of
brass, bicycles could weigh no more
than thirty-one pounds, fly swatters
were made of wood, girdles went from
rubber to whalebone, nylon went from
women’s legs to parachutes, while war
bonds, many promoted by film celebrities, sold in the hundreds of millions
of dollars. New car dealers with nothing to sell turned their showrooms into
skating rinks and storage areas, castor
oil was used as a motor lubricant and
even spider web thread saw duty as
the cross hairs in gun sights.
Bigger things: almost every large industrial plant went into the production
of weapons of war: Chrysler made the
engines for the famous PT boats, Willys
turned out Jeeps by the hundreds of
thousands, Firestone Tires made tens of
thousands of anti-aircraft guns, while
Ford was rolling off the assembly line
a brand-new B-24 bomber every sixtythree minutes.
Within less than two years, America
was producing several times more war
materiel than Germany and Japan combined. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the German Luftwaffe could get into the skies
over Normandy only 319 planes—compared to almost 14,000 Allied aircraft.
What the US faced back then was far
more critical than the challenges that
confront it today—but if the country
could summon the ingenuity, innovation, desire, cooperation and courage
to do it then, why
can’t it do so again?
After all, such attributes are embedded in the very DNA
of the United States
Alejandro Grattan
of America.

FIRST ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR 1839~1842
(Is it really so different today?)
By Kenneth J Clarke
Chapter Headings
From his upcoming historical novel
And Then There Was One

When a military commander like Muhammad Akbar Khan
Leads the tribes to drive ferenghee’s1 beyond ‘Afghanistan,
When the British politician thinks ‘is career must come first,
‘Tis a time when the conqueror’s bubble will topple down an’ burst.
Now, the Aghan tribesman, ‘e’s a soldier tried an’ true,
When ‘e’s on the field of battle or discussin’ terms with you.
When ‘is negotiation lingers, ‘n’ ‘e asks ter shake your ‘and,
T’is time ter count yer fingers, ‘n’ depart ‘is bloomin’ land.
When winter’s closin’ on you, an’ the chat seems near an end,
When grub is disapearin’, an’ you think now ‘e’s your friend,
It’s time to look around you ter see where you can go,
Fer be sure that ‘e’s a soldier, who wants you dead, on Afghan snow
Now death can be clean ‘n’ simple, like a bullet in the brain,
Or it can linger slowly like frostbitten limbs, with pain
That cruelly tears your soul apart as you march towards the gates;
‘Tis those of ‘ell I refer to, where I’ll go an’ meet me mates.
Now the Afghan, ‘e’ll send you on this march, without a doubt,
As ‘e fires from far ‘is jezails2 an’ drives you on a rout.
The transition ‘twill come easy, from the Khyber down ter ‘ell,
Fer ‘tis ‘ard ter tell the difference ‘till you finally ring that bell.
As you march right up ter Satan, your limbs froze numb fer sure,
You’ll find that ‘ell, she’s better with ‘er warmer temperature.
When you shake ‘is ‘and an’ thank ‘im fer stokin’ all that ‘eat
‘E’ll then agree, the Afghan soldier, ‘e’s a devil ‘ard ter beat.
(Endnotes)
1 Ferenghee; Foreigner, derogatory term
2 Jezail; A long Afghan matchlock rifle

Saw you in the Ojo

7

The
T
he S
Straw
traw M
Man
an
By Mildred Boyd

T

hough everyone calls
him the Straw Man, Andres Mendoza is neither
a character from The Wizard of Oz
nor a fallacious argument set up
only to be knocked down. Andres
is a gifted, if somewhat unconventional, artist. Instead of brushes
and paints he produces his masterpieces with beeswax and colorful
straw. Andres is the third generation
of his family to do this work. Both
his grandfather and his mother were
skilled in the art, which he began
learning from them when he was
only seven or eight years old.
The ancient art of straw painting,
called Popote, has been practiced by
the Indians for centuries. Originally,
such paintings were used only in rites
of fertility or hunting magic. Paintings and statues, songs and dances
were all part of rituals performed
to cause the plants to multiply and
bring forth abundant harvests and to
appease the spirits of game animals
so that they would give themselves
willingly to feed a grateful people.
Those rituals are an important part
of many cultures even today.
Popote, however, is a dying art.
The reason is simple; while the techniques are similar to the bead and
yarn paintings still done for religious
rites and as souvenirs for tourists,
preparing the materials for straw art
is far more labor intensive and time
consuming. Only the truly dedicated
will bother when imported glass
beads and acrylic yarns are readily available. So, like the wonderful
feather mosaic work of the ancients,
such work is seldom seen today. Andres admits ruefully that he knows
of only one other person in Jalisco
who still practices it.
Before Andres can begin to create
he must first harvest both the straw
and the natural materials required to
produce dyes. Popote is the common
broom straw that Mexican housewives and gardeners bind in bunches
to make their brooms, and the best,

8

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

according to Andres, comes from Zacatecas, but he usually harvests his
supply nearer his home in Guadalajara. Unlike many grasses, it grows
tall, straight and smooth, without
joints and with very little variation in
diameter. Properly dried and cut into
dyeable lengths, this raw material is
ready for the next step.
Andres obtains most of his dyes
from plants but animals and insects
contribute their share. For purple
he uses the vivid bracts of the bougainvillea, blue comes from the fruit
of the granseño tree and brown is
made from the beans of either the
mesquite or the hoesatchi. Yellow,
however, comes from the bile of
animals and the brilliant red is made
from the crushed bodies of a small
insect, the cochineal, which infests
the prickly pear cactus. Sumac berries, onion skins, snakeweed and
various other fruits, flowers and
barks provide other hues as needed.
Most of these dyestuffs have been
in use since pre-Columbian times to
produce a brilliant array of colors for
dyeing textiles, painting murals or illustrating codices.
Different methods are required
to extract the coloring agents from
such materials, most of them tedious in the extreme. The final step is
the addition of a mordant to set the
colors and make them permanent.
Again, there are many chemicals to
do the job. Alum and various metallic salts are frequently used, but the
most common—and certainly the
most readily available—mordant
is the combination of uric acid and
ammonia found in human urine. Andres now has a brilliant array of fast
colors which can be mixed to produce the entire spectrum. Lengths
of straw are immersed in dye baths
until the take on the desired intensity of color, and then set aside to dry.
All that is left is to prepare the
“canvas.” Any thin, rigid material will
do but Andres usually uses a heavy
cardboard coated with smooth white

paper. The surface to be painted is
coated with and adhesive material
to hold the straw in place. Although
unrefined beeswax is the traditional
adhesive, Andres admits with a grin
that he sometimes cheats a little by
using gum Arabic to give a firmer
grip.
At long last, Andres is ready to
create. Using only his rainbow-hued
bunches of straw, a very sharp knife
and his innate talent, he creates
landscapes, still-lives and portraits
by positioning tiny pieces of straw
on the prepared surface and cutting
them to the desired length. He uses
a subtle blending of colors to create shadows and depth and minute
changes in direction to shape contours and give a sense of movement.
Every tiny piece is meticulously
placed to achieve the desired effect
and, viewed from a short distance,
straight lines become curves, divisions disappear and it is difficult to
tell a straw â&#x20AC;&#x153;paintingâ&#x20AC;? from one done
in any other media.
Andres draws his inspiration from
the lives and tales of his own people.
Humble village streets, grandiose
church facades, lush gardens and
laughing people going about their
daily business wearing colorful
clothing; all reflecting the charm of

Mexico.
A man rides down a cobblestoned street wearing a bright red
poncho which swirls to the unsteady
gait of his burro. Flowering vines
cover blank walls with tree tops
peeking over to hint of the beauty
within, while men and women stop
to talk while carrying their goods
to market. Skylines are dominated
by the tiled domes and bell towers
of village churches and mountains
loom in the distance. An old man sits
comfortably leaning against a wall,
legs outstretched. He seems to be
taking a short nap instead of working on the new fishnet he holds in
his hands.
He is wearing the traditional
white shirt and short pants with
bands of embroidery at wrist and
knee, a striped poncho and straw
sombrero, but his feet are bare. Aztec warriors wear jaguar skin cloaks
and eagle headdresses into battle
and pescadores cast their nets in the
early light. Don Quijote and Sancho
Panza engage in acts of derring-do
and ladies stop to gossip on their
way to mass.
Andresâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is represented in Ajijic by
the Galeria Maestros del Arte located
at 16th de Septiembre, #13

Saw you in the Ojo

9

BRIDGE
B
RIDGE B
BY
Y THE
THE LAKE
LAKE
By Ken Masson

C

an you picture a bridge
hand where you will likely
make 6 No Trump if you
bid it but go down if you only bid 3
No Trump? This month’s offering is
such a paradox.
When it popped up recently on an
on-line bridge site, I imagined how
it might have been portrayed by the
late Victor Mollo in his “Bridge in the
Menagerie” series of books. Mollo was
famous for imparting knowledge in a
very entertaining fashion. Personalities
such as the Hideous Hog, the Rueful
Rabbit, Charlie the Chimp, Oscar the
Owl, the Secretary Bird, and many others, abound in his books and are nicknamed after the animals they most resemble physically and psychologically
and who caricaturize common archetypes of real-life bridge players.
The Hideous Hog and the Rueful
Rabbit feature most prominently in
Mollo’s writing as they are poles apart
in bridge talent and social skills. HH is
by far the club’s best player, but also an
insufferable shark who seeks to humiliate opponents for their mistakes, while
RR is a timid man who can barely hold
his cards together and can’t always tell
hearts from diamonds, but has such incredible luck that even the cards he accidently drops become the right ones.
I wondered how HH and RR would
have handled this month’s hand at
their weekly duplicate session and
came up with this scenario: “What did
you do on Board 18?” asked RR. “Board
18? Why would you ask about that”
countered HH, “That was a nothing
hand, I was in the routine 3 NT, West
led the routine heart 10 and before I
could draw a breath they took the routine 5 tricks and I was down one. Must
be an average board, I assume. What

10

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

did you do?”
“Well, er, I, er, was in 6 NT” stammered RR which drew hoots of derision
from HH: “6NT indeed! How did you
get to that ridiculous contract? Down
4, no doubt – well at least you will help
my score in the comparisons.”
“Actually, I made a terrible mistake
in the bidding – I accidently pulled the
2 No Trump card from the bidding box,
instead of the 1 No Trump card. Naturally, my partner drove to slam.”
“Well, serves you right, then” said
the Hog, mockingly, “Nothing like minus 400 to teach one to be careful in
selecting the correct bid”.
“Plus 1440, I’m afraid - I made the
contract” said the Rabbit, apologetically.
“How could you possibly make 6 No
Trump? Didn’t you get a heart lead?”
“No. Charlie the Chimp led a diamond. I was now able to score 12 tricks
with the aid of the spade finesse: 4
spades, 5 diamonds and 3 clubs. Actually, I could have taken 13 if I had
finessed the 10 of Clubs, but I didn’t
want to be greedy”.
“What luck!” roared HH. “What possessed the man to lead a diamond?”
“Well, he explained to his partner
afterwards that you had told him never to underlead a King against a slam
contract!”
If you see any Mollo books in libraries or used-book stores, I urge you to
snap them up
right away. You
will be in for a
very enjoyable
read.
Questions
or
comments:
email: masson.
ken@gmail.com
Ken Masson

By William Franklin

B

ack in the days of black
and white TV, when it
and I were young, I would
hear my parents during a Playhouse
90 presentation (or something of the
sort) exclaim, “Boy, can she act.” Or
they would say, “Boy, can he act.” And I,
being quite small, could not figure out
why a perfectly good actor or actress
should merit such attention from my
mom and dad. I figured that there was
acting and then there was really good
acting and it was time I learned the
difference. So I would ask my parents
during just about every show since,
“Can Lucy act. Can Matt Dillon act? Can
Jack Webb act? Can Dennis the Menace
act?”
And a funny thing would happen—
my parents would start to wince whenever the question came up. It seems I
always followed that question with a
why or why not and, I will be damned,
my folks didn’t have the slightest idea
why someone could act or not. After
7000 questions and disappointing
living room interviews, my parents
couldn’t tell me what that thing was
that made a good actor good or a
bad actor bad. They and I didn’t have
a clue. And another funny thing happened, their TV viewing comfort level
started to fade. They started watching
TV defensively, refraining from any pronouncements about a star’s ability and
I knew then that I had taken some of
the exuberance out of their previously
confident TV viewing.
And another funny thing happened—my parents started enforcing
my bedtime time, which previously
was dependent on if I was sleepy, and
now, before Naked City or Perry Mason even, I was supposed to go to bed.
So I really have not liked good actors
ever since.
But this is not what I wanted to talk
to you about. I just wanted to raise the
question of how do you know when
something is good (watch out) or bad,
and if it is, should anyone dare mention
it. So in order to avoid my parent’s syndrome of not having the slightest idea
why they liked something, I thought
it would behoove us to come up with
criteria for the goodness of certain
things.
Take harmonica playing for example. I think for a harmonica player to
be good he should know how to play
“Shenandoah.” And he should make
you feel a little wistful while you are
listening, and make you feel that rollin’ river. I surmise that if you are not

fe
eeling that rollin’ river and at least
feeling
making some attempt to long to see it,
emotionally at least, then that particular harmonica player does not merit
a “Boy, can she play” or “Boy, can he
play.” Or if the harmonica player is playing some jig and you find yourself still
seated and not have one foot in the
air high kicking like you’ve never high
kicked before, then probably, no not
probably, certainly, that’s not the kind
of player we have in mind.
Or let’s say someone gets stupid
and writes a novel. There is only one
thing that can save a novel from two
hundred pages of tedium. And that is if
the villain is the most evil, dreadful, repulsive and mean-spirited jerk around.
To be reader-worthy, think Stalin on
his worst day, torturing his buddy’s
wife and then making his buddy bring
him some coffee, or something pissy
like that. Or, for example, have some
working class Lothario seduce the rich,
beautiful, innocent, generous-to-afault but crippled lady and steal all her
money and then turn her out for some
trashy thing that can walk. These are
the kinds of things that make the reader crave turning pages until goodness
triumphs and the reader can finally exclaim, “Boy, can she write” or “Boy, can
he write.”
Then there is yo-yo playing. That is
more obvious, even a playground child
knows the art behind the yo-yo. If the
expert can walk the dog, go around
the world (and not knock anyone unconscious) and hold the string in two
fingers like it’s a loom and he is doing
some threading, then you have a yo-yo
player.
So that is the concept. When evaluating something as abstract as acting
or music or novel-making, the idea is
to have some criteria that goes one
step beyond mere endorsement. And
be prepared to explain it to some kid.

n October, Václav Havel
opened the Forum 2000 conference in Prague by observing its unsightly urban sprawl. He
goes on to speculate why we are allowing our physical space, indeed our planet, to deteriorate so markedly. “We are
living in the first atheistic civilization,
in other words, a civilization that has
lost its connection with the infinite and
eternity. For that reason, it prefers shortterm profit to long-term profit. What is
important is whether an investment
will provide a return in ten or fifteen
years; how it will affect the lives of our
descendants in a hundred years is less
important.”
By referring to our modern society
as an “atheistic civilization,” he is not
calling for a return to a medieval society dominated by religion and superstition. Rather, I think, he is suggesting
that with our rejection of the infinite,
we have become arrogant about our
own abilities. “But with the cult of measurable profit, proven progress and
visible usefulness, there disappears
respect for mystery and along with it
humble reverence for everything we
shall never measure and know, not to
mention the vexed question of the infinite and eternal, which were until recently the most important horizons of
our actions. We have totally forgotten
what all previous civilizations knew:
that nothing is self-evident.”
Nothing, he suggests should be accepted because it is self-evident. So is
it fair to suggest that we really do con-

12

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

sider many things to be self-evident?
One example Havel uses is the current
world financial crisis. The economic
catastrophe caught most economists
off guard, but it should not have. The
economic prosperity of the previous
decade was seen by the experts as a
self-evident success of the free market
system. Politicians removed regulations on business, particularly on Wall
Street and the real estate market in the
United States. To the economic elite,
this growing economy was a self-evident result of capitalist free markets.
Very few professionals anticipated the
crisis which occurred in 2008 with the
collapse of Lehman Brothers in New
York. Why? Havel suggests it was hubris, an overweening arrogance and
self assuredness which blinds us to reality.
So, can this phenomenon of believing that truths are self-evident be applied to other aspects of contemporary
life? Let’s look at a few other examples.
Politically, I think, most people accept their liberal or conservative views
as self-evident. Most Liberals believe it
is self-evident that the medical system
would be more efficient and more fair
if it was overseen, or even operated, by
the government. Conservatives consider it self-evident that the free market is always more efficient and successful, even in health care. Most of us
consider it obvious that technology is
a good thing and that it will eventually
solve many of our problems.
All of this hubris is a type of oversimplification and self-deception, I
think. We want to believe the Enlightenment ideal that progress is good,
that increased profits will benefit us all,
and that if we win the lottery, we’ll be
happier. That’s certainly self-evident.
Havel urges us to abandon the idea
that anything is self-evident. “In all
events, I am certain that our civilization
is heading for catastrophe unless present-day humankind comes to its senses. And it can only come to its senses if
it grapples with its short-sightedness,
its stupid conviction of its omniscience
and its swollen pride, which have been
so deeply anchored in its thinking and
actions.”
So what beliefs do you consider self
evident? What makes you so sure?

Joyful Musings
By Joy Birnbach Dunstan,
MA, LPC, MAC

How Sweet It Is!

’

T

is the se ason – for excesses of all sorts, especially sweets, as well
as erratic schedules and irregular
meals. All prime ingredients for hypoglycemia and its myriad effects on
your body.
Hypoglycemia occurs when blood
sugar falls below normal levels. It has
multiple causes, but is often blamed
on the sugar-laden American diet and
is estimated by some physicians to affect over 20 million people in the United States. Skipping meals, high-sugar
foods, and alcohol are common triggers. Other causes include caffeine,
increased physical activity and certain
medications. Diabetics are especially
susceptible.
As a psychologist, I always consider overall lifestyle and eating habits
because physical problems can have
a powerful impact on the emotions.
Some major symptoms of hypoglycemia include mental confusion, fatigue,
emotional instability, anxiety, and
shakiness. According to some authorities, hypoglycemic individuals may experience more marital and family conflicts, have more accidents, and even
commit suicide during an episode of
low blood sugar.
Our body uses sugar as fuel to
generate heat and energy. Glucose
is the primary fuel for all muscle actions, and especially for our nerves
and brain. The body likes to get its fuel
in a steady, even supply. When we eat
regular meals that include complex
carbohydrates such as whole grains
and breads, our body is happy and
balanced.
When we eat food high in refined
sugar, it is absorbed almost instantaneously, causing a sudden rush of glucose into the bloodstream. What goes
up must come down, and this rapid
increase in blood sugar is followed by
a rapid decrease. Likewise, when we
skip meals: with no nutritional input
our blood sugar plummets.
With low blood sugar, a person’s
energy and endurance levels decrease
and emotional stability is lost. A hy-

poglycemic person will crave a quick
pick-me-up. If they choose sweets,
the blood sugar level will quickly go
up, but it will just as quickly drop off,
creating a vicious cycle. While their
sugar level is high, they are hyperactive, energetic, and happy for a short
time. Then they become exhausted,
confused, and “bonkers” a short time
later when there is the rapid drop in
blood sugar level.
Studies have shown that caffeinated coffee increases hypoglycemia by
stimulating the adrenal glands, which
in turn affects the liver and the nervous system. Combining coffee and
sugar is especially harmful, as are cola
drinks due to the double-whammy of
caffeine and sugar.
Alcohol is high in sugar and also
induces hypoglycemia. All alcoholic
beverages have the same general effect: while your liver is processing the
alcohol you drink, it stops releasing
glucose, the sugar that floats around
in your bloodstream. This glucose-lowering effect can last for as long as eight
to twelve hours after drinking. A hypoglycemic is particularly susceptible
to becoming an alcoholic if they get
caught in the vicious cycle of drinking
to improve their sense of well-being
with the initial buzz. When alcoholics
stop drinking, they frequently substitute sweets because they are able to
achieve a similar “high.”
It’s no wonder so many of us ride
an emotional roller coaster during the
holidays. Making healthy choices now
and throughout the year is a good
idea for everyone – not just those with
blood sugar problems. Eat well to live
well.
And don’t forget to check out my
new book, Joyful Musings: Growing Up,
Self-Discovery, and Reflections on Life
North and South of the Border (available
at Diane Pearl’s and Mia’s). Not only an
interesting read, it also makes a great
stocking stuffer. Happy holidays!
Editor’s Note: Joy is a practicing
psychotherapist in Riberas. She can be
contacted at joy@dunstan.org or 7654988

Saw you in the Ojo 13

ONLY IN MEXICO (Perhaps)
By Tom Clarkson

A

ll in the same week might
you experience:
—While waiting for your
muffler to get fixed, ending up playing with your mechanic’s children and a
baby Tejón.
—Seeing a guy trimming his toenails
with a foot and a half long machete.
—While enjoying a drink on a beach
seeing a stampede of cattle race past
pursued by men on horseback.
—Dogs welcomed with their owners
in most restaurants and certainly those
that are on the beach.
—Might you use the three words
“burritos,”“banos” and “baracho” all in the
same place – possibly in the same sentence.
—Could three guys named Jesus cut
your hair, water your plants and clean
your pool.
—Your doctor spending the first half
an hour talking about your family, your
tropical garden and mutually appreciated eating establishments before inquiring about your health.
—The realization that you should - at
no time - expect any particular product

14

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

ny
to be at any
specific
store at
any given
time.
—A car coming toward you on a oneway street racing full-out in reverse.
—It not being considered abnormal
conduct for someone sitting next to you
in an outdoor beach palapa restaurant to
pull a snake out of his knapsack and start
playing with it.
—Can you drive down the road, note
a Topes Sign, carefully slow down, only to
find out none exists in the area marked,
hence re-accelerating to cruising speed
just in time to hit one larger than a ’49
Hudson that’s not marked nor painted
yellow.
—It not surprising to walk into your
bathroom and find it already occupied
by a large green iguana.
—Total entertainment, during the
red stop light, in the middle of town, by a
juggler, fire eater or clown.
—Is any prominently placed clock on
the wall in a bank or hospital not necessarily expected to be working.

Alignment
Her presence,
the lack of it,
has allowed normality
to surge back in,
equalizing pressures,
allowing horizons
to be level.
yet the sky
however full
of new configurations,
cannot obscure reality,
nor remnant-memories
hidden there
like distant clouds
caught and
held secure.
so sometimes
in the infinity,
arrays appear,
alignments,
coincidences of scent,
and softness,
length of hair,
warmth of arm,
combining

worry for some Democrats following their November debacle is they
have no Franklin Delano Roosevelt
or even a Bill Clinton in the wings,
and for the Republicans it is they
have no Ronald Reagan offstage
waiting for a call for a starring role.
Yet despite the shellacking President
Barack Obama took - lowest Democrat
showing in the House of Representatives in six decades - it’s not exactly the
Jimmy Carter era all over again.
So what happened to Obama’s
handy win just two years ago and why
have the demoralized Republicans
now become so re-energized?
A pundit once said a politician can
only take a country and its people as
far as they want to go, and the United
States is basically a slightly right-ofcenter nation, while Canada is generally a slightly left-of center nation. The
Democrats under Obama obviously
tried to take the country too far to the
Left too quickly.
This said, former Canadian Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney
- who won the two largest majority
governments in his nation’s history declared real leadership involved doing what is right, not what is popular at
any given time.
Yet eventually, Mulroney rolled the
dice once too often, resigned amidst
disastrous opinion polls, and saw the
monolithic majorities he had built topple to just a pitiful two Conservative

16

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

seats in the 308-seat House of Commons.
So what did Canadians think of the
midterm campaign? Generally, Canadians whether Conservatives, Liberals or New Democrats (Socialist Party)
found it bizarre, ridiculous and even
frightening. Compared to American
campaigns, elections in Canada must
seem almost mundane.
Canadians of all stripes are appalled by the vast amounts of money
American parties, candidates and special interest groups spend, and by the
inflammatory language used.
As I mentioned previously, Canada
has strict political financing rules, and
stringent libel and human rights laws
- known as ‘hate crimes’ - that tone
down rhetoric considerably.
On political financing, no corporation, union, lobbyist, or special interest
or advocacy group can give a dime to
a political party. Only individuals can,
and their contributions are limited to
$1,100 in any given year. The bulk of a
political party’s financing comes from
the $1.75 federal subsidy each party
gets for each vote they got in the previous election. Indeed, while special
interest and advocacy groups are allowed to buy newspaper advertisements and TV commercials throughout the year, once a federal election is
called - and Canadian campaigns last
only a merciful six weeks - special interest and advocacy groups are banned
from advertising at all. So no entity can

buy a party or candidate off.
Canadian libel laws are rigorously
enforced - to call a politician a liar
would get an opponent before the
courts in swift time, and human rights
laws mean it is an offence to ridicule
or scorn anyone - whether in politics
or not - due to their color, creed, sex,
sexual orientation or age. Such restrictions calm down obnoxious debate
considerably.
Now, on learning about Canadian
political financing, libel and human
rights laws many Americans - both on
the Liberal-Left and Conservative Right
- protest and claim the American Con-

stitution guarantees free speech. Well,
so does the Canadian Constitution
but the non-partisan Supreme Court
of Canada has ruled free speech must
be ‘responsible free speech’ and not inflammatory. With that, I agree.
My own bottom line as a Conservative, is two years ago Obama won
the presidency fairly and squarely,
and last month the Republicans won
the House, several more Senate seats
and governorships fairly and squarely,
too. That’s how democracy works. We
should all accept the people’s choices.
paulconradjackson@gmail.com

Saw you in the Ojo 17

Wondrous
Wildlife
By Vern and Lori Gieger

wildlifemexico@wildtravellers.org
765-4916

They Live Where
Where??

M

exico has some amazing wildlife. Many
species of mammals
live near rivers and lakes. When we
think of aquatic mammals we usually think of beavers, muskrats,
or perhaps even raccoons but not
this species. When most think of an
opossum we think of the common
opossum, or perhaps their cute tiny
cousin the marmosa mexicana; but
not an opossum that is aquatic. Mexico is home to the only living aquatic
marsupial.
It is called the water opossum and
is also the only living marsupial in

18

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

which both sexes have a pouch. The
water opossum has distinctive adaptations for its watery lifestyle. They
have short, dense fur which is waterrepellent much like that of an otter.
Their broad hind feet are webbed
like other aquatic animals, which give
them great momentum through the
water, moving with alternate strokes.
They also have a long tail that assists
in swimming and is used much like
a rudder.
Their physical appearance is
much different also, their fur is a
marbled grey and black pattern
while the muzzle, and head are all

black; with the exception of a lighter colored band running across the
forehead to the ears. The front feet
are not webbed but rather used to
feel for and grab prey as they swim.
Unlike the common opossum which
will eat almost anything, the water
opossums hunt for fish, crustaceans
and other small aquatic animals.
Being a marsupial and at the
same time an aquatic animal poses
some challenges but, the water opossum has evolved a way to protect its
young while swimming. The pouch
has a strong ring of muscles and
the pouch opens to the rear, unlike
the common opossumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. One might
think of their pouch as a bit like a ziplock baggie nice and watertight, so
the babies remain dry, even when
the mother is totally submerged in
water.
The male also has a pouch although not as watertight as the femaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s; and it serves a completely
different purpose, he places his genitalia in it before swimming. It is believed that this protects the family
jewels so to speak, and is helpful in
streamlining the opossum as well.
Water opossums den near waterways and river banks; they tend to
have permanent dens, unlike their

cousins the common opossums
which tend to be much more nomadic and follow the ever changing
food source. About the only thing
they seem to have in common besides both being opossums, is that
they are both nocturnal; and they
rear their young in much the same
way, however the water opossums
usually only have two to four young,
whereas the common opossum may
have up to 13.
The longevity of the water opossums is not known; in captivity the
average lifespan is approximately
three years. The water opossum is an
anti-social loner. They are not listed
as endangered. However, they are
indeed rare, whether this is due to
its nocturnal and mysterious way of
living or their small pockets of populations. Even researchers can only
guess. Their habitat range is from
southern Mexico to Brazil in subtropical to tropical areas, near freshwater
streams.
The weird, wondrous and extraordinary fauna we share this planet
with certainly leaves one in awe.
Speaking of awe, congrats to Lakeside Spay and Neuter / Ranch, on
reaching their 10,000th spay / neuter.

Saw you in the Ojo 19

OF FAITH AND FABLES
By Bob Haynes
bzhaynes@gmail.com
bzhaynes@gmail.co
m

A Matter Of Perseverance

T

he Apostle Paul wrote
these words in the third
chapter of Philippians:
“One thing I always do. Forgetting
the past and straining toward what
is ahead, I keep trying to reach the
goal and get the prize for which
God called me through Christ to
the life above.” That is good advice
for all of us, I think. The image of
‘straining toward what is ahead’ and
“trying to reach the goal” is like the
long-distance runner whose focus is
on the finish line and that focus will
provide the strength to persevere,
one step at a time.
Paul’s using a long-distance runner as an example reminded me of
an event that took place here in Austin last month. The event was the
first-ever Half-Iron Man Competition
in Austin… and hundreds of participants took part, among them Marci’s
daughter Melanie and her husband
Rommel.
Melanie is an excellent runner!
Rommel is fantastic on the bicycle.
When they enter events they don’t
just do a few jogs around the block.
They train for things like Triathlon’s,
and hundred mile bike races. The
goal for both is to participate in a full
Iron Man race…and perhaps even
the Boston Marathon. The amount of
effort it takes to prepare for such an

20

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

event is huge.
For such an event you must be
able to run, bike, and swim in competition with others, as well as competition with the clock. I am in awe
of their physical stamina and even
more in awe of their perseverance
in getting ready for the race, and for
how they concentrate on that race as
it evolves. One thing’s for certain, in
such a race, one does not try to “rest
on their laurels.” To be serious about
marathons, you must be willing to
persevere in your training.
I believe Melanie’s story applies
to those of us who are in the midst of
experiencing the battle against cancer. It’s a long, hard road with lots of
pitfalls and trials. In order to do battle
we must put on all our armor – our
minds, our bodies, and our spirit. We
must also make it clear that our goal
is to reach the time when the cancer
is no longer there and along the way,
give thanks for the additional time
that the treatments have given us.
Paul seems to tell us to put our
past mistakes, victories, and self-reliance behind. In order to persevere
we must focus our attention and energy on the goal we have set before
us. For the Christian that means running toward a Jesus-centered life and
leaving our self-centered life behind.
Most of all, he would tell us to keep
moving forward because in doing
so your endurance will increase the
harder and the farther you run.
So Paul’s description of the runner
and the race is a good one for all of
us no matter where we are in our life’s
journey. It takes perseverance toward
maturity in our faith with the ultimate goal being that God can work
through us as we do his work.
That being said, we have a choice
each and every day that we live. After
all, we live in an awesome world. Let’s
make it an awesome day. Peace to all
and may God bless you. Live simply.
Love generously. Care deeply. Speak
kindly. And, leave the rest to God.
Shalom!

Saw you in the Ojo 21

THIS WORLD of OURS
By Bob Harwood
bharwoodb@hotmail.com

O

ur time in Russia in September gave us new perspectives on yet another
corner of this world of ours. The West
has tended to focus myopically on the
Cold War and Communist eras, brief
blips in the complex history of a vast
country fronting on three oceans and
spanning nine time zones. We spent
several days in St. Petersburg, Paris of
the East, Venice of the North. Its Hermitage Museum houses 3,000,000 works
of art with soaring gilded salons devoted individually to the most renowned
artists of seemingly every period.
Then it was a superb performance
of Giselle at the Bolshoi Ballet Theater
and touring Pushkin Palace built for Peter The Great in the 17th century. Maintenance of its exquisitely decorated,
still pristine salons required 1000 servants to maintain. Leisurely hours were
spent exploring St. Petersburg on land
and on a canal system reminiscent of
Venice or Amsterdam.
Our river cruise boat hotel then
bore us from St. Petersburg to Moscow
through the Waterway of the Czars via
Europe’s two largest lakes and a rivercanal system flanked by serene landscapes. Daily we had ample shore time
to explore historic villages and towns,
ancient monasteries, the magnificent
golden domed cathedral of Uglich,
other cathedrals with multiple domes
in every color of the rainbow, or, on
Kizhi Island, crafted entirely of wood.
Inside, superb artistry and, more than
once, superb singers awaited us. We
queued at canal locks with river cruise
ships and commercial traffic from distant oceans.
We docked in Yaroslavl as it marked
its 1000th anniversary by hosting world
leaders for a political summit analogous to Switzerland’s Davos Economic
Summit. Well-informed lecturers onboard shared the complex history of
Russia from ancient times through successive waves of European nations vying for supremacy, the long reign of the
Romanov Czars when seemingly all of
Europe’s royal families were intermarried on into the comparatively brief

22

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

Communist era with both its pluses
and minuses for Russia’s citizens.
We must reexamine a variety of
Western perspectives. Gorbachev,
whom we idolized during the Cold
War, has a very negative image in Russia while Putin, their current Prime
Minister and former President, has the
highest approval rating of any world
leader. Yes, many of our nationals lost
their lives on the Western Fronts and in
Asia during World War II. And 6,000,000
Jews perished in the Holocaust. But
Russia lost a massive 27,000,000 of its
citizens as so much of Germany’s military might was deflected to the East.
And have we forgotten that it was Russia’s Yuri Gagarin who became the first
man in outer space on April 12, 1961,
prompting President Kennedy to create NASA and all that has followed?
Russia, rich in many natural resources
vital to today’s global economy, warrants a commensurate place in global
discourse.
In the pedestrian friendly heart
of Moscow vast Red Square is in turn
bordered by the Kremlin’s magnificent
cathedrals rivaled only by the multicolored domes of renowned St. Basil’s
just outside its walls.
We walked to classical musical
performances in period theaters, to
art galleries, to the multi storied open
galleries of the Gum Department Store
and in an open market displaying colorful Russian wares. The architecture
everywhere is magnificent. Commuters utilize multilane highways or a sophisticated Metro whose underground
terminal in Central Moscow is another
tourist must. There escalators carried
us deep into the bowels of the earth
to a splendid gallery of exquisite art
through which we passed to board our
train.
Set aside stereotypes of Dr. Zhivago
and the Cold War blip
of the 20th century.
Put a St. Petersburg to
Moscow river cruise
on your Bucket List of
“Must Do’s.”
Bob Harwood

Saw you in the Ojo 23

AN ALL-STAR NEW YEAR’S PARTY
By Allen McGill

J

ulius was struggling to keep
the stern demeanor that everyone expected of him, but
the clever repartee emanating from
the stage was about to trigger his
laugh reflex.
“Oscar, sit down and behave yourself,” he called out, then turned away,
arranging his toga and pretending
not to notice the exaggerated look
of indignation darted at him from the
long-haired, bow-tied Edwardian gentleman standing in the spotlight.
“Watch yourself,” Oscar taunted.
“Maybe you can give orders to your
Egyptian queen, my dear, but don’t
think you…” The rest of his words were
drowned out by the burst of laughter
from everyone in the ballroom, led in
volume and duration by Julius himself.
The enormous room was filled
to capacity with a clientele that had
never been seen, and never would
be seen, by anyone in the real world.
The powers that be had decided that
only the VIP room of the IHFS (International Historical Figure Society) would
be spacious and luxurious enough to
house such a mélange of “stellar” celebrities.
The seating arrangements had
created problems that even a highestpower intellect would find exasperating. Space had booked up immediately, of course, as soon as the telepsychic message had been transmitted.
Everyone who was anyone (and they
were all someone) wanted to attend,
to be seen. The Kennedy’s reserved
a table, of course, as did the Borgias,
the Mings, the Barrymores and the
Hapsburgs...before a stop was put to
private parties.
Centuries of relationships created
endless seating problems: who to sit
with whom, considering ex-spouses,
lovers, descendents, monarchies,
show people, whores, poofs, butches
and classes. Calling-card shuffling was
suggested and tried, until very early
on sudden revelations came to light

24

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

that rendered that idea impractical.
One table, for example, turned out
to be peopled by all women, including Mae, Marilyn, Marie and Jayne,
among others. Of course, Gertrude
didn’t seem to mind, but she was outvoted by a great majority.
Oscar ended his introduction of
Adam and Eve, at which time everyone began talking animatedly. A and
E (as they were known to the in crowd)
were not very interesting people. They
had so little to talk about, except that
they were everyone’s parents! And
they’d been running that topic into
the ground since the beginning of
time, for God’s sake, boring everyone
silly. They insisted on MC’ing every
gathering, claiming it was their due.
And who could say no?
Oscar yielded the spotlight to
them, and returned to take his seat
between Alexander and Rock. Many
wondered who had arranged that
little ménage-a-trois. However, it was
certainly much better planning than
the Adolph-Moses tablemate screwup. Fortunately, that potential brouhaha ended before either sat down,
Adolph swapping seats with Golda.
The evening progressed remarkably well, considering the egos present to such an overwhelming degree:
Enrico sang, as did Judy, Pavlova
danced, Socrates orated, Tiny uked
and, as is said: “a good time was had
by all.”
When the entertainment ended,
the table-hopping began; incredibly
beautiful, talented, learned, (once)
wealthy, charismatic, influential, famous people strolled throughout the
ballroom, charming, flirting, kissing
and flattering everyone and anyone.
And some edged off the sidelines into
the ante-rooms, doing the same with
others out of view.
Casanova, whom many were
watching, being aware of his “earthier” antics, made a show of trying to
simultaneously “date” Bette and Joan
(of Mommy, Dearest notoriety) on the

dance floor. It was later rumored that
he did it on a dare but, aristocrat that
he is, he denied it.
Garbo danced with Marlene to
make Tyrone jealous, who simply
turned around to dance with Marilyn,
until Jack cut in, who wound up on
the floor when Jackie cut in...with an
uppercut. What a fun party.
Voltaire and Kublai stood off in a
corner chatting, while Idi and Malcolm stayed aloof, looking suspicious
of everyone.
Everything would have ended just
fine, except that one nameless, inebriated person grabbed the mike and the
spotlight to announce: “We’re going
to have a contest. Whoever can convince the crowd that he or she is the
most famous person in history, will be
honored with the title:
Illustrious Eternal Being.”
Well, the buzz started low, accompanied by little movement. But booze
(and whatever) had been having its
effect and the buzz grew in volume,
slowly, beginning in the center of the
dance floor where Casanova had suddenly landed flat on his back, with
Bette and Joan squaring off above
him.
Shortly after, Lancelot belted Rocky,
Abe shoved George, Lizzie jabbed Lucretia and the Stalin cold-cocked the

Chairman. Then all hell broke loose:
punches flew, hair was pulled, eyes
poked and the screaming and yelling made the old days of nuclear war
sound like a quiet celebration.
“HOLD IT, YOUSE GUYS!” a voice
boomed throughout the room. The
shock of someone actually yelling at
this elite crowd startled each and every one into a stunned silence. “HEY,
DIS IS A NOO YEAHS PARTY! YOUSE
GUYS ARE ACTING LIKE A BUNCHA
HOODS!” It was Bogie, putting on his
best “mobster” accent.
The Godfather, standing next to
him, wheezed, “Now, I want you to
cut this crap out, you hear me? Or I’m
going to be very upset with each and
every one of you. I know who you are
and where to find you. Capiche?”
Silence permeated the room for
a full minute. Then, gradually, spaces
began to appear as the guests quietly
eased their way toward the exits, unspeaking and un-touching.
The party ended ever so much
more calmly than any of the previous ones had. It just shows you that
when you have a group of classy people at an affair, it pays to have a good
bouncer handy. A well-behaved one,
who knows how to handle people...
like, diplomatically, ya know?

AMA (The Journal of American Medical Association)
published an eye-opening
report in 1998 that 106,000 hospital patients die each year from
adverse reactions caused by prescription drugs. Over-the-counter
or non-prescription nonsteroidal (No
Cortizone Derived) anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen,
aspirin and naproxen) are responsible for about 16,000 deaths each
year. In 2005, the FDA received more
than 300,000 serious adverse event reports about drugs. In the same year, it
received only 500 such reports about
dietary supplements.
Regarding vitamins, minerals and
herbal supplements, Dr. Stengler lists
some of the well-designed clinical
studies and research that demonstrate
the effectiveness of:
Omega-3 fatty acids from fish or
fish oils or from supplements to improve cardiovascular disease outcomes
and reduce cardiovascular disease risk
(American Heart Association) and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (Archives of Neurology, July 2006).
Vitamin C and E to reduce mortality rates from heart disease and other
causes. A National Institute of Aging
study of over 11,000 people between
the ages of 67 and 105 found that those
who used supplements of vitamins C
and E in various dosages had a 53% reduction in mortality from heart disease
and a 42% reduction in all-cause mor-

tality, compared with non-users.
Vitamin E to reduce heart disease.
A Harvard study of more than 80,000
female nurses ages 34 to 59 found a
41% reduction in the risk of heart disease in those who had taken daily vitamin E supplements of 100 IU or more
for at least two years. A study of almost
40,000 male health professionals ages
40 to 75 years found that those who
took daily vitamin E supplements of at
least 100 IU for at least two years experienced a 37% reduced risk of heart
disease.
Vitamin E to delay progression
of Alzheimer’s disease. One study of
moderate-severity Alzheimer’s patients
conducted at Columbia University in
New York City showed that a very high
dose of vitamin E (2,000 IU) delayed
the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Vitamin D helps keep bones strong
and may help prevent osteoporosis
(National Institutes of Health Office of
Dietary Supplements).
Glucosamine/chondroitin for arthritis. Research funded partially by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases found this
supplement combination significantly
reduced osteoarthritis pain in those
who initially had moderate to severe
pain.
Ginkgo biloba to manage or improve cognitive function in elderly
and Alzheimer’s
patients (MedlinePlus), and for
normal tension
glaucoma (Ophthalmology, February, 2003).
Will be continued....
Manuel Cordova

26

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

Saw you in the Ojo 27

TONGUE-TIED
By Kelly Hayes-Raitt
Iraq 2003

T

he one I want to wrap in
my arms and bring home
is Nebras. I didn’t even
know her name when I return to Iraq,
shortly after the assault on Baghdad. I
am armed with only a photo of a beggar
touching her nose with her tongue.
I had met her a few months before,
when I’d traveled to Iraq with a women’s
delegation, just five weeks before the
U.S. bombings and invasion. Unfazed
by impending disaster, the little girl, old
enough to be in primary school, had
begged for handouts in a popular market. I had taught her to touch her nose
with her tongue. She had followed me
around the souk nearly swallowing her
tongue in laughter as she imitated my
nose-touching stunt.
She was cold. The dirty scarf
wrapped loosely around her neck neither protected her from the chill nor
hid her calculating ability to work the
shoppers. Without a translator, the most
I gathered was a photo of a gleeful girl
with laughing eyes and an incredibly
acrobatic tongue.
When I return to Iraq five months
later to find how war had touched the
people who had so deeply touched
me, translators are reluctant to take me
to the souk. The mood in Baghdad has
shifted; gunfire is heard nightly. The
day before I am to leave, I canvass the
cluttered shops, flashing the little girl’s
photo.
“Yes, that’s Nebras.” Finally, a shopkeeper gives a name to the girl whose
deep, brown eyes had humanized
the smoldering CNN newscasts that
absorbed my life back home. “But I
haven’t seen her in a while. Not since
before the war.”
I catch my breath. I had just learned
Nebras’ name. She can’t be one of the
thousands of nameless Iraqis we dismissively call “collateral damage.” I step
out into the bright sunlight and my
translator catches my arm.
“We need to leave,” he insists. The
equally insistent gunfire across the
river rattles my nerve. I feel conspicuous in the souk’s crowded narrow alleys. People dart, avoiding eye contact.
Shops close prematurely. Barricaded
soldiers seem hyper-alert in the edgy
heat. I stifle my creeping panic as we
worm our way back to our car.
Suddenly, a commotion erupts
behind me and I turn around to see

28

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

a crowd of men shoving toward me. I
freeze. The shopkeepers part, revealing
the terrified eyes of a familiar elfish girl
they drag toward me by the scruff of
her T-shirt.
Nebras doesn’t recognize me at
first. Not until I show her photos of
herself does she smile. Backed against
a shop facing a tight crowd of curious
men, Nebras retreats shyly, studying
her photo intently. I shoo back the men
who had treated this beggar only as a
nuisance and, kneeling before her, I ask
the interpreter to tell her I had come
from America to see her.
Without warning, the overwhelmed
girl lunges forward and kisses me on
the lips. We buy her an ice cream from
a passing vendor. She unwraps it and
holds it out to me. My defenses melt.
After two weeks of rigorous attention
to all food and water that passed my
lips, I lick the sweet street fare sacrificing my intestines to this little girl’s pleasure at hosting a visitor with all she can
offer.
She’s an only child who doesn’t
know her age. It was particularly ironic
that we had met outside the Al Mustanseria University, the world’s oldest
science college, built in 1233. This girl’s
only education is learned navigating
the streets.
I empty my purse of dinars, stuffing
the oily bills into her plastic purse. She
gleefully buys another ice cream for us
to share.
Rumors that the American troops
had closed bridges and jammed traffic
make us jittery. Nebras escorts me out
of the dicey souk, grabbing my hand
and expertly keeping my skirt from being snagged by the ubiquitous wartime
razor wire.
As we pass a store being repainted,
she mentions it had been hit during the
war’s initial attacks. She said she’d spent
the long nights of the early bombings
in a nearby mosque.
I hug her harder than I intended. I
feel her wiry hair against my cheek, her
grungy T-shirt against my shoulder, her
warm, open heart so willing to accept
mine.
And then I’m gone.

Saw you in the Ojo 29

Hearts at Work
By Guest Columnist Robert Kleffel

Relationships

I

[

n recent conversations,
Ajijic resident Robert Kleffel has offered some
useful insights regarding relationships, which I asked him to sharee
with you here.—James Tipton]
Most of us agree that having
good health is critical for a sense of
well-being. The second most important component in our lives is having
good relationships with our friends
and family. In the past 20 years, the
science of Evolutionary Biology has
explored how important relationships are in our lives. The basic idea
here is that people who have strong
relationships have a better chance of
survival. Over hundreds of thousands
of years, humans who did not have
strong relationships were eliminated
from the gene pool. Those who remained have a propensity, built into
their genes, into their DNA, to develop useful relationships. Philosophers,
thinkers and gurus have expressed
thoughts on how to develop and
maintain these relationships.
We have further evidence of how
important relationships are when
we realize that relationships form
the basis of almost all literature, art,
music, plays and operas. What is clear
from all of these forms of expression
is that relationships are problematic.
What is it that causes such difficulty
in developing and maintaining good

30

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

relationships?
One problem is status. In the precivilization eras, humans survived
and prospered not only by having
close relationships but also by having high status. Tribal chiefs, expert
hunters, and even craftsmen had
high status, thus giving them control
over others; and when trouble came
they were the survivors who were still
around to propagate the species.
Gaining high status, however, can
be destructive to relationships. Politicians, businessmen and the wealthy
use other people to gain their status
that allows them to control others. In
a book entitled The Moral Animal by
Robert Wright, the author illustrates
how most people spend a lot of time
propping up their status. A local example is the “border promotion” phenomenon. We tend to exaggerate our
importance, our accomplishments,
our contacts and our wealth in the
hope that this will improve our status. Another form of status enhancement is to tear down other people’s
status in the hope that we will stand
out. Put-downs and malicious gossip
cause great harm to others and are
destructive to relationships.

There is a true sense in which our
behavior is being directed by our
evolutionary development. What is
very interesting is that we are unaware that we are being directed.
The classic example is our desire for
sex. Very few people have sex for
the purpose of having children. In
fact, having children is usually the
last thing that they want. But evolution’s plan is to get females pregnant
to insure the survival of the species.
In relationships, evolutionary imperatives are in conflict with what is best
for relationships. For example, the
evolutionary imperative to gain high
status often comes into conflict with
trusting relationships. When we tear
down others, we are not often aware
of why we do it. “The devil made us
do it.”
In the case of sexual intercourse,
our bodies give us the pleasure of
the big “O.” In good relationships,
superior in many ways to the evolution-driven sexual intercourse, we
get a relaxing sense of well-being
that contributes to our happiness.
Studies have shown that people who
have strong trusting relationships
are healthier, live longer and are
happier. Studies at the University of
California show that thanking, forgiving and giving to others build strong
relationships.
If we are aware that our evolutionary imperatives are trying to get
us to do things that are destructive
to quality relationships, we may be
able to stop the “devil” within us. One
of the best-known quotes from the
Bible and—in actual practice—most
ignored is: “So in everything, do to
others what you would have them
do to you” This is a simple and sound
formula for maintaining strong
healthy relationships, and strong relationships are the key to your personal happiness.

Saw you in the Ojo 31

By Victoria Schmidt

CFE and Me

L

ike most residents of Mexico, I don’t worry that much
about crime, I live in fear of
only one thing: the CFE bill. Every-other month, I held my breath hoping that
we came in under the limit so that we
didn’t end up in the dreaded DAC tariff
level. Recently, we crossed the threshold for some inexplicable reason, and
our bill tripled.
Trying to find the culprit isn’t easy.
We went to our rental company and
asked to have our meter checked. They
asked about our electricity guzzling
appliances. We have no explanation…
other than the old refrigerator. During
the hot months, we run fans. No heaters in the cooler months. They said we
should “wait.”
Another thing I don’t understand is
the rationale about the tariff. If there is
a threshold of 500-kilowatts, then the
usage exceeds the 500-kilowatt limit,
everything over that wattage should
be charged at the tariff rate. But nope,
go over that limit, and the entire bill is
charged at the higher tariff rate…not
just any kilowatts over 500.
The topic of the electricity cost inevitably comes up wherever ex-pats
gather. Everyone has cost-saving ideas.
Everyone has suggestions and advice
on how to save. Myself, I run around
the house turning off lights, receivers,
and anything electrical I can find…and
our bill is still high.
There was one gentleman on a web
board who knows the watts or volts

32

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

used by each and every appliance he
owns. Me? I don’t know the difference
between watts or volts--except CFE
charges by the watt. The goal is to stay
under the 500-kilowatt limit for the
billing cycle. We have yet to do that.
The other mystery is my bill. Where
is it? Why do I never get it? It never
shows up at our home. My rental agency just goes and gets a copy of the bill.
They know what my bill is before I do.
If CFE can read the meter, why can’t
they deliver a bill?
If I did get a bill, I would take it to
the CFE headquarters and talk to a
representative, but I have heard horror
stories from those that try. I’ve been
told that they will come out and check
the meter, but if they find no problem
with the meter, then CFE charges for
the trip. Of course, then there is that little matter of waiting for them to show
up when they say they will be there
“mañana.”
People have advised me to find a
“good electrician” whom I can trust,
and have him go through the house
and make sure it is properly wired and
make sure that I don’t have hungry appliances. Right. A good electrician I
can trust. That was hard to find in the
USA where I could call and ask all kinds
of questions before I hired someone.
Here? Well, I have to hope that someone I know and trust has a great reference for me.
Keep in mind; I know that there is
a problem with my electricity. Why?
Because the lamp in our living room is
constantly changing its brightness…
all by itself. It goes from bright to dull
to bright again. So, yes, I need to find
that electrician. But what if the house
needs rewiring? Who will pay for that?
My landlord? The rental company?
Yah, I hear the laughter too.
And once I find the problem, and
correct the problem.
I must wait an entire
year, or six billing cycles in order for CFE
to take me off the
dreaded DAC rate.
See why I think
CFE is totally scary?
Victoria Schmidt

Saw you in the Ojo 33

THE WILD BUNCH
By Julie Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Costa

T

here is a Wild Bunch
in the Lakeside area
that you will want to
know about. These are intelligent
folks, keenly observant and well -informed. They are also well connected and work closely with officials at
the state and federal levels.
These folks are the Lakeside Wildlife Rescue team and their mission is
twofold: to rescue, rehabilitate and
release wild animals that get into
trouble; and to educate the local
community on the value and importance of protecting our local fauna,
whether on the endangered list or
not. They have what amounts to a

34

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

small zoo, where they nurture and
care for displaced and injured animals until they can be rehabilitated
and released back into the wild.
They work with all kinds of animals: birds of all kinds including falcons and eagles; local indigenous animals such as deer, possums, skunks,
raccoons, foxes, an armadillo, iguanas, coati mundis, and a magnificent
ocelot that was released some time
ago; a wild boar; snakes of all kinds â&#x20AC;&#x201C;
from the ubiquitous and indigenous
corn snakes to a seven foot python;
alligators and turtles; and scorpions
from all over the world.
They have a significant impact on

the community. As part of their mission of educating the public, they
take their menagerie to the people
- wherever they may be. They can be
found at the most unlikely places: in
school classrooms, at public functions like the Chili Cookoff, at the
Lake Chapala Society, and on street
corners.
They come with cages, boxes,
perches and pools filled with all sorts
of critters of all shapes and sizes, colors and varieties. And they provide
a unique opportunity for all of us to
see and touch animals that ordinarily we would rarely if ever encounter
in the course of our normal lives:
In these situations, they are aided
by the innate curiosity of all of us to
see and touch our fellow wild creatures. Imagine you are walking along
the malecon in Chapala and come
across this menagerie in front of city
hall. What kinds of reactions might
you see?
A very small portion of people
turn and walk away. The vast majority are drawn to the scene with a
sense of wonder and awe. They are
drawn by the opportunity to experience the animals first hand and
many feel compelled to experience
the animals through touch.

This is how attitudes are
changed.
Education is so important for
all of us. You may not know that in
Mexico it is a federal crime to possess,
transport, buy, sell, or kill any wild animal that is considered endemic, under
special protection, threatened, or in
danger of extinction, or to otherwise
cause damage to the genetic pool. Depending upon the species involved,
penalties are: 1 to 9 years in prison,
as well as fines up to $2,341,000.00
pesos (approximately $200,000
USD), as well as possible deportation for non-Mexican citizens. Tough
measures if you ask me. However,
given that many endemic species
are in serious trouble or in danger of
extinction, one can understand their
position.
The Lakeside Wildlife Rescue team
is made up of 100% volunteers. No
one receives a penny. They rely exclusively on donations for food, medicine and care of animals, for cages,
flyers, bumper stickers, and signs.
So the next time you see the
Lakeside Wildlife Rescue crew and
their wonderful critters, go up close
and experience the wonder of our
natural wildlife. You will be glad you
did.

Saw you in the Ojo 35

Anyone
A
nyone C
Can
an Train
Train
n Their
Their
rD
Dog
og
By Art Hess
arthedogguy@yahoo.com

Introducing A New Dog

W

hen introducing and/
or meeting new dogs,
there two basic requirements: space and loose leashes,
both of which most people fail to include. First, let’s consider space. Dogs
aren’t a lot unlike people. They get
along with most others of their breed
but with some others they need a little
more time.
If we put two people in an elevator,
they may hit it off but most likely they
would feel uncomfortable and prefer
to be some other place. If we put these
two strangers on a football field where
only the food and water were in a common space, the chances are these same
two people would gradually get to

36

know one another and become comfortable sharing their environment
with one another.
Dogs aren’t a whole lot different. If
we jam them together in a small space
like a carport or small yard for example
and then shove them nose to nose and
say “Here’s your new buddy,” there’s
every reason for them to be less than
excited about this forced meeting. To
make matters worse most people will
be nervous themselves and will wind
the leash around their wrist until the
poor dog has no wiggle room.
Dogs want the option to leave the
area when things become strange and
different and the problem is when we
tighten that leash up like a fiddle string,

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

we completely remove the flight optio
tion and poor peace loving Buddy’s
au
auto pilot kicks in. His mind goes from
flight to defense and when he can’t get
any slack or maneuver space out of the
leash he goes from defense to offense.
This is when he appears to become
aggressive and the handler proceeds
to yell and jerk on the strangulating
leash and all hell breaks loose and the
mutual gathering ceremony goes head
first into the proverbial crapper. So lots
of space, completely loose leashes so
the dogs can get to know one another
on their terms and take your time.
Okay, now the dogs decide they’ll
give it a shot and you say okay this is
going to work so new dog can stay and
everything will work itself out.
It’s not uncommon when we introduce a new dog to a multi pet environment we will experience some
difficulties with minor spats or anxiety
situations like unusual urinating and
marking in the house or the existing
dog going off his food and sulking and
a myriad of other problems. The first
and most important thing is to focus
ALL of your affection and attention on
the EXISTING animal for 6 to 10 days if
you can hold out that long. It’s the existing dog who is having his environment and his entire world invaded. He

needs the assurance that everything
is going to be okay and he isn’t losing
anything.
Remember, the new dog doesn’t
know you or the new environment so
he has no preconceived notions about
what to expect or what is expected
of him. Don’t worry
about hurting his feelings because he’ll get
lots of loving and attention after the settling period passes.
Loose Leashes!
Art Hess

Saw you in the Ojo 37

The Aztlan Kid
By RM Krakoff
Review by Harriet Hart

A

uthor R.M. Krakoff describes his third novel The
Aztlan Kid: Estranged Man
in a Strange Land as an “alternative
history/action/adventure novel.” In
it he rewrites the history of Mexico.
The Aztlan Nation did not succumb
to the onslaught of Cortez in 1519.
Instead, it pushed the conquistadors
back to the sea; they’d burned their
ships and had no means of escape so
were captured, imprisoned and killed.
Cortez was executed.
Having survived the Spanish attempt at conquest, the Aztlan Nation
developed into a flourishing culture
with a government that placed the
welfare of its citizenry first. By 2010,
the Mexica Empire is one of the largest, richest nations on earth with borders that range north to Oregon, east
to Louisiana and south to Honduras
whereas the USA has only 44 states.
The Aztlans isolate themselves,
practicing economic nationalism and
avoiding external conflict with their
non- interventionist military policy.
They keep a highly skilled army and
navy in case of an attempted invasion by their nearest neighbour to the
north.
The Appendix provides a fictional
time line beginning with the Nahuatl
speaking peoples settling in Mexico
in the 6th century and outlining their
subsequent accomplishments: devel-

38

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

oping a sewage system for Europe in
1855, inventing the first telephone
switchboard in 1893 and sending the
first unmanned space probe to reach
the moon in 1959.
As the novel opens, protagonist
Tototl, a biotechnologist working on
a method of growing food on Mars,
arrives in New York City to attend a
United Nations conference. We see
America through his eyes: dangerous,
unhealthy, crowded and polluted. Tototl is under CIA surveillance, watched
by novice CIA agent, Ollin. Nicknamed
Oso, the Aztlan Bear, he defected from
the Aztlan Nation because it banned
the consumption of alcohol. Oso possesses no political ideals and is untroubled by ethical concerns. He’s here for
the beer.
Krakoff is at his best narrating the
cloak and dagger, hero versus villain
chase and encounter scenes. The plot is
vast and furious, the outcomes uncertain. He creates likeable and believable
main characters: the handsome Mexican scientist, the lovely Lika and the
intrepid Amoxtli who is determined to
save their lives. Krakoff is equally gifted
at painting his villains: the despicable
CIA agent and the ruthless hired killer,
former Green Beret Colonel Schwartz,
dispatched in case Agent Oso fails.
This novel would make a great action flick with its fast moving plot and
sustained conflict. It’s a quick read, perfect for air travel or the doctor’s waiting
room and will have you on the edge of
your seat.
Krakoff ’s “alternate history” is really a critique of current US society
and political system. His satire laced
with humour provides food for serious
thought. Could there be a government
on Earth that puts its citizens first? Will
there be a space race to colonize Mars
because we’ve trashed this planet with
our greed and aggression?
To find out, buy The Aztlan Kid,
available at Diane Pearl’s Collecion on
Colon in Ajijic. The novel is also available on Kindle.

overnor Rick Perry ‘ss
statement support-ing the idea of send-ing U.S. troops to help Mexico
co
fight the drug cartels will create
te
controversy on the other side of
the border. It is ironic that Perry
erry
made that statement exactly one
day before Mexicans will celebrate
brate
the centennial of the revolution
n that
ended up the 26-year dictatorship
hip of
General Porfirio Díaz.
Mexicans do not have good memories of U.S. interventions. You need only
to mention the 1846-1848 U.S-Mexico
War–when Mexico lost a big part of its
territory–to provoke a complete rejection of any idea of American intervention.
Historically, Mexicans have not
viewed American intervention as support for the people (el pueblo). When
they have come into the country,
Americans have supported the interests of private companies or they
have backed politicians hated by the
people.
In 1906, for example, when Porfirio
Diaz was still in power, American
troops came into the country to help
the dictator to crush a miners’ strike in
Cananea, Sonora.
The mine, Cananea Consolidated
Copper Company, was owned by William C. Greene, who asked for help from
the government of Arizona. In response
to his petition, the government sent a
group of rangers to protect the company’s facilities and to quell the unrest.
In doing so, the rangers were actively

40

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

i n volved
in the killing of several
of the rebel miners. The Cananea strike is considered a
precursor to the Revolution.
Eight years later, U.S. troops invaded again, this time to occupy Veracruz
and to reject the government of Victoriano Huerta, which, by the way, came
into power due to the assistance of the
infamous US Ambassador Henry Lane
Wilson. The U.S intervention in Veracruz lasted six months. And again, in
1916, U.S. troops were sent to Mexico
to pursue Pancho Villa, who had dared
to invade the US through Columbus,
Nuevo Mexico. General Brigadier John
J. Pershing was appointed by President
Wilson to lead an army of 4,800 troops
on a punitive expedition into Mexico.
However, the mission failed.
The problems that Mexico is facing
now are totally different from the ones
that prevailed during the revolution,
but the America’s special interests in
Mexico are as strong as they were during the 20th Century. Shared concerns
such as immigration, border security, trade, investment, flow of capital,

among others, could explain Perry’s
suggestion about sending troops to
Mexico. Mexicans are very concerned
about the violence of the drug war and
they want a solution to the problem,
but that doesn’t mean that they support a foreign intervention of troops,
although they would support more
American involvement in terms of
training and financial help.
Last August, the Pew Research Center released a survey that showed that
78 percent of Mexicans favor the US
providing training to Mexican police
and military personnel.
“A smaller majority (57%) favors the
U.S. providing money and weapons to
Mexican police and military personnel, down slightly from 63% last year…
Opposition to the deployment of U.S.
troops in Mexico has also increased
from an already high 59% last year to
67% in the current survey.”
The Pew survey also showed that
the support for American assistance to
Mexican forces tends to be strongest in
northern Mexico, where the violence
has affected people more directly and
dramatically. Mexico and the US have
been working together to fight drug
trafficking because this is a problem
that concerns and affects both countries. As we know, through the Merida
Initiative the US is helping Mexico with

over $1.3 billion for police professionalization, judicial and prison reform,
border security, intelligence and many
other issues.
Furthermore, according to Mexican magazine Proceso, the US has already established a bi-national center
of intelligence in Mexico, from where
agents from the CIA, DEA, ATF and the
Pentagon are already investigating
drug trafficking organizations and organized crime.
If the US is already helping Mexico
and getting involved in the drug war
–through training, research, intelligence and resources–why would Perry
voice such an absurd idea?
(Ed. Note: Governor Perry is famous
for making fatuous statements, viz. his
call for Texas to secede from the Union.
This is more than stupid, it is deeply offensive. Perry seems to have forgotten a
war in which hundreds of thousands of
brave Americans fought and died over
this very issue. Perry also seems to have
overlooked the fact that if such a secession came to pass, all federal military
installations and financial assistance
would quickly vanish, causing Texas to
immediately thereafter declare bankruptcy. This all makes me wonder how
my beloved home-state of Texas can
elect such mentally-challenged politicians. AG)

Saw you in the Ojo 41

Phone: (376) 766-4774 or 765-3676 to leave messages
Email: kdavis987@gmail.com
PAST EVENTS:
Jill Flyer entered a contest for
black and white photos in The
Premiere photo magazine in the
US, appropriately called B & W
Magazine. One of the images sent
was selected for a Merit Award. The
image will appear in Special Issue
#80 of the magazine which arrives
on US newsstands the first week
of December. Now the challenge is
getting them here to Lake Chapala.
Nonetheless, we congratulate her
for her winning entry.
In October the Rotary Club of
Generaciones, Jill Flyer’s award
Ajijic named Bob Salvatore “Mr.
winning B & W photo
Rotarian Ajijic” in recognition of
his tireless efforts on behalf of
Rotary International. Mr. Salvatore served as Rotary Club Ajijic’s president from July
2009 through July 2010. The local Rotary is
one of the few English-speaking Rotaries in
Mexico, serving the community since 2002.
For information visit the website at www.rotaryajijic.com or stop by the Rotary Table at
LCS on Mondays from 10 – 12.
At their November meeting, the Culinary Arts Society of Ajijic featured Italian
food. Winners were:
Category A:
1st Place: Pam Ladd – Italian Sausage
Cheese Strata, Bechemal Sauce
Second:
Linda Fossi – Italian Flag
Chicken
Third: Patrick Winn – Melanzane (Eggplant) Alla Parmigiana
Category B:
1st Place: Phil Posner – Apple Cannoli Bob Salvatore accepts plaque
with Brandy Cream Sauce
for Rotary service from VP
Second: Kenee Campo – Zuccotto with
Sandra Loridans
Amaretto Sauce
Third: Roberta Hilleman – Almond and
Pistachio Biscotti
People’s Choice Winners:

Roberta Hilleman, Kenee Campo, Phil Posner

42

Category A: Pam Ladd – Italian Sausage Cheese Strata, Bechamel Sauce
Category B: Joann Nash – White Chocolate Tiramisu Trifle, Spiced Peaches
All who would like to join in learning about, preparing, and enjoying good food are
encouraged to call Patrick Winn at 766-4842. He can also be reached by email at patriciowinn@hotmail.com,
and would be delighted
to invite those interested
to come as his guest.
In November Feria
Maestros del Arte was
here for the 9th Annual
Exposiciόn at Club de
Yates Chapala (Chapala
Yacht Club). This yearly
art show promotes the
rapidly
disappearing
folk and indigenous art
Feria rebozo demonstration
of Mexico. Artists come
from all corners of the country. In addition to the 72 artists’ craftsmanship, highlights
at this year’s show included tequila tasting, a daily fashion show, music and a rebozo
(scarf) spectacle. The trick in wearing the rebozo is to accent or contrast the rebozo
color with the outfit, then tie and sometimes twist the rebozo for different effects, e.g.
cover one shoulder or both.
In November there were two book readings & signings. One was a poetry reading by four local poets, each in a different style
and yet all were beautiful. The reading was held
at Sol Mexicano at Colon #13, a gallery with a
delightful back patio. The second reading was
by Jay White, a local writer of humor, primarily.
His reading was held at Casa del Sol, a B&B set
right in town and offering great coffee.
These are the books for your Christmas
list: Jim Tipton’s three books of tanka (short)
poetry in both English and Spanish, Judy Dykstra-Brown’s Prairie Moths (about growing up
in a rural area), Margaret Van Every’s A Pillow
Stuffed With Diamonds (impressions of Mexico
in the tanka style), Michael Warren’s A Particular
Blue (a mix of poetry), and Jay White’s Havoc in
Judy Dykstra-Brown
Motion (short stories). All are available through
Diane Pearl’s Colecciones at Colon & Ocampo and at Coffee & Bagels on the carretera
just west of the traffic light at Juárez. Also look for these at the book store at Bugambilias Plaza and various coffee shops where books are sold. All are good reading.
In November Jay Koppelman, photographer, opened a new gallery called Salon 18, located at #18 Colon, phone 766 - 3745. The photos feature scenes from
Lake Chapala and San Juan de Allende plus
those from his travels in South America. Jay
has also prepared a gorgeous book of photos from his experiences in Mexico. The book
is called The Through Line – A Journey from
Darkness into Life in Mexico ($250 pesos).
See his blog at thethroughline.wordpress.
com or email archonimages@hotmail.com.
EVENTS TO COME:
On December 4, 10 – 5, St. Andrew’s
Outreach Regalorama will hold the mother of all garage sales at Calle San Lucas
#19, Riberas del Pilar. Find treasures and
fashions, yummy homemade baked goods,
jams, pickles, candles too. The tea room
Woman in Hat
offers coffee or tea and scones for refreshment, spaghetti for heartier appetites, and there’s a 50/50 raffle. It’s always a fun day
with proceeds to help Lakeside charities.
On December 6 Lakeside Friends of the Animals are holding “An Evening in
Casablanca” at Restaurant Four in Ajijic. The restaurant will be turned into Rick’s
Café Americain from the movie, complete with decor and music from the 1940s. Many
of those attending will wear clothing representative of that era.
Lakeside Friends of the Animals provides funding to individuals and some animal
welfare organizations who help cats and dogs here at Lakeside, with special emphasis
on assisting Mexicans of limited means.
December 12 – 13 will be the Los Cantantes Christmas songfest on Sunday
at 3 p.m. and Monday at 7 p.m. at the Auditorio in La Floresta. The performance
features an 8-piece brass plus percussion orchestra. Tickets are available at LCS Tick-

Continued on page 46

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

Saw you in the Ojo 43

W hen the first Bishop ar-

rived in Michoacan he found his
new diocese in chaos—the people
demoralized, their rulers dead,
their fields and shops destroyed
and their trade disrupted. Nuno
de Guzman, self styled King of
the Tarascans, had indulged in a
rampage of torturing and killing
before fleeing to spread his particular brand of devastation further
in Jalisco.
Don Vasco de Quiroga faced
the formidable task of trying to
pacify, to say nothing of convert,
a sullen populace utterly disenchanted with anything Spanish.
He began by feeding the hungry,
founding schools and hospitals

and, more important, shoring up
the shattered economy. It is said
that he defied his king and risked a
death penalty by importing young
olive trees from Spain to provide
a new industry. He also supported
reestablishment of old crafts and
brought European artisans to teach
new and improved ones. To avoid
competition for the same limited
markets, he encouraged each
village to specialize in
one particular craft
or product. Weavers
and stone carvers,
potters and metal
workers—all the
skilled craftsmen
answered his call.
The love and
reverence in which
the people hold Don
Vasco’ memory and
the stunning variety
of crafts they still produce
are ample evidence of his
success.

Tzintzuntzan
This village
with the singing name
that

means “where the hummingbirds
are” was once the capital of the
great Purepecha empire and the
site of the first cathedral, though
that was later moved to Patzcuaro.
It specializes in pottery with a
creamy white glaze decorated with
simple line drawings in black. The
drawings, often crudely done but
always charming, reflect
the major local industry
and show fish, boats
or fishermen wielding
the graceful butterfly nets that have
become the
trademark of
Lake Patzcuaro.

Capula
Capula’s artisans are also ceramicists but their products bear little resemblance to
the simple wares of Tzintzuntzan. Again, the
subject is often fish
but the execution
is far more sophisticated. Against
a warm brown
background,
usually with a
scrolled border of
bright blue or green,
very lifelike fish swim
vigourously. The whole
central motif is then stippled
with thousands of tiny dots in a
creamy beige much like a pointillist painting.

Santa Clara del Cobre
The craftsmen of the Purepecha
were already noted for metallurgical skills far in advance of
their neighbors. There is
even speculation that
their remote ancestors
brought the knowledge with them from
far-away Peru. Naturally, a village called
Saint Clara of the
Copper (now a National
Historical Monument)
chose working
with that
metal as
its spe-

cialty. Today, the
sound of metal
being hammered
into shape reverberates through streets
lined with shops
selling a profusion
of gleaming ornamental and utilitarian articles that will,
with age, acquire the
lovely mellow patina
shown here.

Paracho
In the mountainous areas of Michoacan there
are unexpected villages of
wooden houses with steep
roofs and sweeping eaves that
would look more at home in
Switzerland than in Mexico.
Paracho is just such a village
and its craft specialty is equally
surprising. If you have ever wondered where all those fancy guitars come from, this is the place.
The lovingly crafted instruments
produced here have earned an
international reputation for both
quality of workmanship and musical tone.

Uruapan
Craftsmen here are skilled in
the exacting art of lacquer ware.
This requires the application of many
coats of brilliant
lacquer ending with the
b a c k g ro u n d
color. The design is then
developed
by carefully
cutting away
overlying layers to reveal the
desired color. Though
the final product is well worth the
effort, the process is so delicate
and time consuming that it is in
danger of dying out. Much of the
work found in Uruapan today
is simply painted. Only a few
craftsmen cling to the old ways to
produce masterpieces of color
and texture such as this
hexagonal tray.

San Jose de
Gracias
This is where skilled
potters specialize in

44

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

Saw you in the Ojo 45

46

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

Saw you in the Ojo 47

48

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

pineapple pots, so called because
in shape and texture they vaguely
resemble that fruit. A few of these
very elaborate pots even wear a
golden brown glaze. Traditionally, however, they are a vivid
green. The texture is achieved by
appliqueing thin bits of clay to the
basic form and lids are often in the
shape of spiked foliage. Designed
to serve pulque, they were originally quite large and were often
equipped with matching cups hung
on hooks. The collection shown
here is only a sample of the many
sizes and shapes produced today.

Patzcuaro
Tarascan women are noted
for their fine needlework. Their
ancient costume of falda and
huipile, still widely worn, is lavishly embroidered in a brilliant
array of colors. Since each village
has its own special patterns and
motifs, the expert
can not only tell at
a glance where a
garment came from,
but, quite often,
name the family
of the woman who
produced it. Many
earn extra money
by producing items
like this handsome
re b o z o w h i c h ,
though traditional
in execution,
are specifically designed for
the tourist
trade.

Tocuaro
Masks have always
played an important part
in Mexican life and the artisans of
Tocuaro have long been noted for
their skill in carving and painting
the wooden likenesses of saints
and demons, heroes and villains

used in the historical dramas,
morality plays
and comic shenanigans which
enliven every
fiesta. Especially popular
in Michoacan is
the Los Viejitos
dance in which
boys don wrinkled,
toothless masks and
act the part of little old
men whose shuffling antics
always include a great deal of hilarious horseplay.

Erongaricuaro
Many village craftsmen work
with wood, producing beautifully
carved furniture, doors and screens
as well as hand turned
wooden bowls and
statues of everything
from horses to saints.
Erongaricuaro, once
known for its textiles,
now boasts a small factory and does a thriving business making fine furniture for
export to the States.
The elaborate mirror frame shown
here, though actually from Patzcuaro, is
typical of the lovely pieces produced
in obscure back
yard workshops all
over Michoacan.

glee, are typical of the whimsical
humor displayed in their work.

cluding the decidedly â&#x20AC;&#x153;unholyâ&#x20AC;? family, sporting horns instead of halos. These delightfully
demonic motor-cyclists, cruising
along with expressions of fiendish

Ocumicho
Though the villagers
of Ocumicho practice an
ancient craft, their subject matter is definitely
post conquest. Local
legend has it that one
of the local potters
wryly remarked
that, since, according to the priests,
they were all going to hell anyway, they might
as well choose
devils as their
specialty. And
devils it is; devils alone brandishing pitchforks, devils in groups
engaged in various extremely
unlikely activities, even diabolic
nativities with everyone, in-

Saw you in the Ojo 49

ets Etc. 10 – 12 (M – F) or from any Los Cantantes
member. You can also contact Viva! La Musica’s
Rosemary Keeling at 766 – 1801. This is going to be
a fantastic concert – it certainly was last year.
December 13 will be a super Holiday Cocktail Supper Party to celebrate Love in Action and
their work with children. All are invited to enjoy
fabulous food, an open bar, music and entertainment, in a beautiful private residence in Ajijic, thanks
to the generosity of the benefactors. All proceeds will
go to the Love in Action Center. Tickets are $1000
pesos and limited to 200. Make your reservations
early through Bettina Rigby at 766 – 0149 or bettinarigby@hotmail.com or Dixie Topham at 766 – 5987
or dixielt@gmail.com. You can read more about the
facility at www.loveinactioncenter.org.
On December 16 at 5 p.m. Libby Townsend
will hold her annual Christmas party to benefit
the indigenous Tarahumara of Copper Canyon at
her home located at Calle Ocampo 98, #2 at Seis
Esquinas (Six Corners) in Ajijic. Tickets are $100
pesos each and can be purchased at the Guadalajara Reporter
office in Plaza Bugam- Casablanca Night at #4
bilias next to El Torito Super Market, Addiction
by Jose Melendrez on Ajijic’s main plaza or by
calling 766 – 1167. All proceeds go to purchasing medicines and blankets for the free Tarahumara children’s hospital in Creel, Chihuahua.
The winter is cold and the need is great. Come
drink, snack and be merry while you save a life.
On January 1 at 1 p.m. Cruz Roja will
start the 2nd annual Polar Bear Swim on the
Chapala malecon in front of the Beer Garden.
Several hardy souls have already signed up to
participate and sponsors are being lined up. At
2 p.m. following the “chilly dip”, there will be a
raffle draw. Prizes are $20,000 pesos, $10,000
pesos and $5,000 pesos.
All swimmers will be rewarded with specially designed T-shirts and there will be prizes
Los Cantantes Christmas poster awarded in a variety of categories. The name
of the participant who gathers the most pledges
will be inscribed on the Cruz Roja Polar Bear Trophy. For more
information, to register for the swim, and to get pledge sheets,
contact any of the following Cruz Roja Chapala volunteers:
Pancho Deriger at 765 – 6455, Charlie Klestadt on his cell
phone 331 – 445 – 2136, or Don Fraser at 766 – 4990.
Mulitple Events:
#13 - The American Legion post #7 schedule for December:
Sundays: 12 – 3 p.m. Legion grill burgers
Dec
1.....9 – 9:45 a.m. – US Consulate (Note new
hours!)
Dec 3.....8 – 1 p.m. – Yard Sale
Dec 5.....8 a.m. – 10th Annual Arts & Crafts (no grill this
Sunday!)
Polar Bear
Dec 17.....3 p.m. – Movie: Jeff Dunham’s Very Special
Plunge
– Yikes!
Christmas Special
Dec 18.....3 p.m. – Maple Leaf Club (Canadian Day)
Dec 21.....4 p.m. – Fish Fry
Dec 25.....closed – Merry Christmas!
Dec 31.....2 p.m. – Shrimp Boil (all you can eat)
For information, call 765 – 2259 or www.americanlegionchapalapost7.org
The Lake Chapala Society Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held at 10
a.m. on December 14, 2010 at the LCS grounds. The AGM will be followed by an
Extraordinary Meeting (EM) at 12 noon, the purpose of which is for the membership to
vote on the New Constitution which may be viewed online at www.lakechapalasociety.
org.
The LCS Singles Mix & Match group has a December 14 Lake Panorama Party
on an excursion boat launch scheduled for 2 p.m. It will be a three hour voyage offering spectacular views and guided commentary. Passengers can enjoy food catered by

50

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

Ruben’s Restaurant and unlimited free drinks for one
all-inclusive price of $260 pesos per person. The boat
will return to the pier about 5 p.m. A minimum of 40
persons is required, so early sign-up is essential. For
further information, log onto lcmixnmatch@yahoogroups.com or email inajijicpat@yahoo.com.
Lakeside Little Theatre news:
The third show of Season 46 of the LLT is Ken
Ludwig’s farce Lend Me a Tenor. Roger Tredway directs this rollicking comedy about the biggest night of
opera in Cleveland’s history – and the mistaken identity and unmistakable mayhem that ensues. Performances run from December 11 – 19.
The LLT is calling for plays for Season 47, 2011
– 2012. Interested directors should please provide details of experience and a copy of up to three scripts:
one comedy, one drama, and a third in the genre of
choice. Deadline is noon on January 10, 2011.
If you would like to volunteer behind the scenes, the LLT is always looking for people to train in lighting, sound, wardrobe, props, make-up, stage managing and other
positions. Contact Don Chaloner at 766 – 1975 or email at 77dondo@gmail.com.
MAS MUSICA (Music Appreciation Society) performances will be at the Auditorio
de la Ribera in La Floresta. The scheduled season is:
Dec. 14 – Chris Wilshire and his 18 piece Chamber Orchestra will delight guests
with unforgettable performances of Corelli, Grieg, Holst, and Copeland
Jan. 13 – Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra, Guadalajara’s world-class symphony with
an “Enchanted Evening in Paris – 1910”
Feb. 15 – Bob Milne, Ragtime and Jazz piano virtuoso and historian, is sure to hold
us spellbound during this final exciting event of the concert season
MAS MUSICA is always happy to welcome new volunteers to help with ticket sales,
hospitality and other concert related duties. Please contact Beverly at 765 – 6409,
bjely49@hotmail.com. Also, refer to web site MASajijic.com.
Open Circle meets at the back patio of the Lake Chapala Society each Sunday
morning at 10:15 for mini-sandwiches and coffee followed by a speaker who talks
on the topic of the day. No products are sold, and no religion is touted.
Dec. 5
Phil Shepherd – In My Soul I am Free (spiritualism)
Dec. 12
Patsy Krakoff – New Brain Scan Technology Revelations
Dec. 19
Susan Miller – a holiday musical perspective
Dec. 26
Alicia Makinajian
December 7, 8, 9 & 10 at 3 p.m. The Naked Stage presents its 2nd Annual Xmas
Turkey with Hams, a loony Ajijic Christmas party.
Come all ye faithful – unfaithful also welcome. The Naked Stage is now at Teatro Penqueño, located on the
north side of the carretera just west of Pemex. Reservations are a must! Donations: $80 pesos. Call 765 –
2530 or email thenakedstagegroup@gmail.com.
VIVA! LA MUSICA Bus trips to the ‘Live from the
Met’ Opera series at Teatro Diana:
Dec 11 – Don Carlo (Verdi) show at 11:30 a.m., bus
leaves at 10 a.m.
Jan 8 – La Fanciulla del West (Puccini) at noon, bus
at 10:30 a.m.
Feb 26 – Iphigene en Tauride (Gluck) at noon, bus
at 10:30 a.m.
Mar 19 – Lucio di Lammermoor (Donizetti) at 11 a.m.,
Xmas Turkey with
bus at 9:30
Hams
at Naked Stage
Apr 9 – Le Comte Orcy (Rossini) at noon, bus leaves
at 10:30 a.m.
Apr 23 – Capriccio (R. Strauss) at noon, bus leaves
at 10:30 a.m.
Apr 30 – Il Trovatore (Verdi) at noon, bus leaves at
10:30 a.m.
May 14 – Die Walkure (Wagner) at 11 a.m., bus leaves
at 9:30 a.m.
Contact Marshall Krantz at 766 – 2834. Tickets cost
$300 pesos for members, $350 pesos for non-members.
Viva Members 2011 Season Kick-off Party also invites
non-members for January 16, 2011, 4 – 6 p.m. Roseann
Wilshere has graciously opened her home for the party.
This is a wonderful time to make new musical friends
and renew old acquaintances! Renew your membership
or bring your 2011 membership card. Friends and nonmembers are welcome to attend for $200 pesos.

Don Carlo by Verdi

Saw you in the Ojo 51

Books, Books, Books!

B

uy your Christmas presents
early this year, and give
something that will enrich
the lives of everyone who loves Mexico. Choose from three unique portraits
of life in days gone by...
VILLAGE IN THE SUN (200 pesos) is
a warm-hearted description of life on
the shores of Lake Chapala in the years
immediately after the war, in the days
when a car was an event.
HOUSE IN THE SUN (200 pesos) is a
colorful description of life at the Old
Posada in Ajijic, which used to be
the kind of Bed & Breakfast they don’t
make any more.
CANDELARIA’S COOKBOOK (100 pesos) is an eccentric collection of recipes
unlike any other, featuring a Mexican
cook and her traditional specialities. It
will delight armchair foodies and adventurous chefs in equal measure.

he flood
of Ameri-can liberals
als
sneaking across the bord
border
rd
derr
into Canada has intentensified in the past week,
eek
ee
k
sparking calls for increased
patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The recent actions of the Tea Party
are prompting an exodus among leftleaning citizens who fear they’ll soon
be required to hunt, pray, and to agree
with Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck.
Canadian border farmers say it’s
not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields
at night.
“I went out to milk the cows the
other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn,”
said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield,
whose acreage borders North Dakota.
The producer was cold, exhausted and
hungry. He asked me if I could spare
a latte and some free-range chicken.
When I said I didn’t have any, he left
before I even got a chance to show him
my screenplay, eh?”
In an effort to stop the illegal aliens,
Greenfield erected higher fences, but
the liberals scaled them. He then installed loudspeakers that blared Rush
Limbaugh across the fields. “Not real
effective,” he said. “The liberals still got
through and Rush annoyed the cows so

54

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

much that they wouldn’t give any
milk.”
Officials are particularly concerned
about smugglers who meet liberals
near the Canadian border, pack them
into Volvo station wagons and drive
them across the border where they are
simply left to fend for themselves.” A
lot of these people are not prepared
for our rugged conditions,” an Ontario border patrolman said. “I found
one carload without a single bottle
of imported drinking water. They did
have a nice little Napa Valley Cabernet,
though.”
When liberals are caught, they’re
sent back across the border, often
wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have
been circulating about plans to build
re-education camps where liberals will
be forced to drink domestic beer and
watch NASCAR races.
In recent days, liberals have turned
to ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have been disguised as senior citizens taking a bus trip to buy
cheap Canadian prescription drugs.
After catching half a dozen young
vegans in powdered wig disguises,
Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the
supposed senior citizens about Perry
Como and Rosemary Clooney to prove
that they were alive in the ‘50s. “If they
can’t identify the accordion player on
The Lawrence Welk Show, we become
very suspicious about their age,” an official said.
Canadian citizens have complained
that the illegal immigrants are creating
an organic-broccoli shortage and are
renting all the Michael Moore movies.
“I feel sorry for American liberals, but
the Canadian economy just can’t support them.” an Ottawa resident said.
“How many art-history majors does
one country need?”

Saw you in the Ojo 55

THREE PLACES AT ONCE
Or Be Careful What You
u Wish For

By Julie Elizabeth Mignard

T

he soft ruffle of silk lay
ay
y
gleaming across Bettytttylou’s wrinkled palm. It was
was
wa
three things at once. “If only I could
db
be
e
three things at once,” she was thinking.
kin
ng.
It was a lovely lavender blue, periwinwin
inkle maybe, and wherever the soft gathers bent it, it shimmered a brilliant turquoise, the color of a peacock’s breast,
yet it was totally transparent.
“This is the material for the bridesmaids’ dresses, Gramma, I hope you
haven’t bought your dress yet, because
it needs to be able to match this for the
pictures.” And on and on the self-absorbed letter went. How could Claudia
possibly have chosen October 12 for
her wedding? The exact date of the annual NNN Gala.
“My last year as President, this just
could not be happening!” And now this
phone call about Daddy, they need me
to empty his apartment before the first
of November. The apartment he moved
into seventy-five years ago in Manhattan, her childhood home. Claudia’s
wedding on Maui. My LIFE in Mexico.
This just cannot be happening. “I wish
I could just be here and in Maui and in
NYC in October!”
“Here I spend months at a time
never hearing from anybody, missing
my granddaughter, not hearing boo
from Daddy. I have to work at being
with people around here. That’s why I
joined the NNN in the first place, without commitments it was just too easy
to sit around alone and read books, pet
the cats, TV and all that.
I’d forget I was in Mexico, not see

56

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

anyo
yon
ne but
ut the
the
e gardener
garde
ene
nerr for
fo days at a
anyone
tim
me, an
nd no
n
w, N
OW – w
hy ffor
or God
G
od’ss
time,
and
now,
NOW
why
God’s
sake can’t these things spread out over
the year? A nice June wedding, selling
the apartment in January?
Oh no. I get my moment to shine,
this year the NNN was going to be
bowled over by my brilliance. I was
never going to have to call people and
try to arrange a lunch again. They were
going to be calling ME! Now what?
Either my Granddaughter is going to
hate me or my Daddy is going to have
everything put out on the street by
strangers, or I am back to square one
in the social life of just one more single
woman in the community. Three places, I need to be three places at once.”
Shoving the phone aside, Bettylou
turned back to her wine. It was just
out of reach on the opposite corner of
the table. Starting to heft her ample
padding, Bettylou stretched across
the wide glass tabletop reaching for
her favorite wine glass. She startled
violently as the forgotten silk fluttering
down slid into her view. The top-heavy
wine glass went crashing to the floor.
Bettylou’s center of gravity reached
the point of no return, her considerable mass smashing her face first into
the broken glass and spilled wine immediately followed by a huge crash
as gravity and floor tiles combined to
bounce the custom-made table into
flying swords of lethal glittering glass
shards.
Two days later the maid had a nasty
surprise.
And so, Bettylou got her wish. On
October 12, her friends at the NNN all
agreed that it was the best Gala ever as
they sprinkled one third of Bettylou’s
ashes into the sea. Her Granddaughter honored her at the wedding by
adorning her urn with the beautiful
silk and her favorite flowers and tearfully toasted her as the best Grandma
anyone ever had. The last one third of
her ashes in a brown cardboard box
got put out on the street in Manhattan
by strangers, along with everything
else from seventy-five years of her forgotten life.

Saw you in the Ojo 57

SELF-ESTEEM

CHECK

By Bill Franklin

I

think it’s time to
o
check my self-es-teem. Self-esteem,,
g
if you haven’t been paying
attention lately, takes on reall
significance the momentt
d
yours is on the line. And sad
to say, like a pain or headache you
didn’t know you had, it comes on line
the moment someone brings it up,
(much as I’m doing now). But don’t be
alarmed. If your personal esteem isn’t
up to snuff, I have ways to get around
the high standards you’ve probably
set for yourself.
I know I have gotten around all
the standards I started out with and
I’m proud to say, lowering my standards has been one of my crowning achievements. To get around the
curse of high standards it helps to borrow a few concepts from Christianity.
You don’t have to be a Christian to rip
off some of their golden nuggets, take
the best and sweep away the rest, as
I like to say. Thankfully, I had a friend
who was Christian and he filled me
in on some vital info about God that
I was lacking.
I asked him, “Why in the heck
should God love me?” What have I
done to deserve all that good God
love?” He answered me with a doctrine I actually like and so I thought
well, finally, the universe is giving me
a deal. I couldn’t beat this at the swap
meet. He said because of grace, I didn’t
actually need to earn God’s love, God
loves me in spite of myself and there
is absolutely nothing I can do about it.
His love is free, undeserved and there
for the taking.
This is my kind of love. No matter
how down on my luck I am, no matter how selfish and self-absorbed I am
and no matter that I’ve never helped
a flood victim, God thinks I am OK
enough to be gifted with his love. (I
always equate God’s love with the
fact that there are billions and billions
of stars. Somehow in my infantile, illogical thinking self, anybody that is
into billions and billions of stars and
stuff, should not leave me out.) I may
not deserve heaven (according to the
doctrine) but I am way cool with God
and with some luck could be purgatory bound at least.
Purgatory I assume to be a cut
above living in El Centro in the summer or being broke in Vegas just

58

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

when I think my slot machine is going
to hit. Hell, I should think, is reserved
for history’s complete jerks, guys like
Hitler and Stalin, Mao or the worst of
the creepy Mongol horde. Plus “Blue
Duck,” if you happen to have read
Lonesome Dove.
So here is the concept as it applies
to self-esteem. You (or I) have been
harboring the notion that your appreciation of yourself is tied to achievement. But wait a minute, God doesn’t
think so. He thinks what you’re up to
doesn’t matter. He loves you anyway.
Like your parents or Billy Joel, he loves
you just the way you are. You could be
the village idiot and it is all the same
to God. This gives your self-esteem a
leg up. Now you don’t have to be so
fancy. You don’t need so much money
for example. You can get drunk more.
You can take that afternoon nap and
still be square with the universe.
I used to think that if I sang real
good and played the guitar and got
a good crowd and they liked it and
tossed some money in my pauper’s
guitar case, I would have high selfesteem. And of course it worked. I felt
great about it. But I realize now that I
didn’t need to go to all that trouble.
And later in life, when singing in
the street began to seem odd and too
beggarly, I thought I should stretch a
bit and teach school. So I bent myself
all out of shape and taught school
for years and felt semi-horrible. And
I achieved and achieved and, true to
the code, I asked myself, “what does it
profit a Franklin to make all this little
money and lose his soul to the school
board.” So I took up tennis.
Because I was good at tennis in
the sense that I didn’t care if I won
and frequently didn’t, my self-esteem
soared. But again, after conferring
with my friend the Christian, I realized
that tennis and teaching and singing
were very shallow ways to approve
of myself. Instead I decided I approve
of myself because I am looking good,
way good, perfectly good, plastered
right there, hung maybe, basking in
the cross hairs of God’s image.

hen you look in the mirror
and that reflection no longer matches who you are
inside, it is time . . . time for what? Yep
you guessed it - time for some facial rejuvenation! Vanity? Of course! We only live
once...so why not? But what are the criteria for a successful outcome? As many
of you know, I have researched cosmetic
surgery for the past four years and not
only have I attended numerous consults
but have followed many people through
their surgical experiences. Soon it will
be my turn and I want the best with the
best.
Safety is number one priority. And
what constitutes safety?
1. Having extensive blood work
and a checkup with a cardiologist is
of utmost importance to make sure
the patient is in excellent health.
2. Being brutally honest with your
surgeon - you must report whether
you drink alcohol, smoke or take analgesics on a regular basis because
this can affect the anesthetic as well
as the surgical procedure.
3. Type of anesthetic used - conscious I.V. sedation is far safer than a
general anesthetic.
4. Duration of the surgery - many
surgeons operate with a partner primarily to cut the surgical time in half.
Face-lifts often take only three hours
versus eight hours. This reduces
the risk greatly since the longer the
surgery the greater the health risk.
Having a backup is also important
should anything happen to the primary surgeon.
Techniques and Precision
Cosmetic surgery is more of an art

60

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

than a science. Over the years, I have
seen some far from perfect work. My
main complaint has to do with visible
cuts instead of following natural folds
and creases. I have even heard cosmetic
surgeons blaming the patient for having
poor skin texture when it is they who
have made a mess! This is unacceptable. A good surgeon’s cuts follow the
natural folds and lines. He also uses fat
injections to reduce deep lines and to
fill the lips so they look full and youthful.
It is important to know that although a
facelift will improve many saggy areas it
will not erase wrinkles - those would be
treated at a later date with a laser.
The gold standard in face-lift techniques is the SMAS method (Superficial
Musculoaponeurotic System) which focuses on the thin underlying connective
tissue layer of the skin. It is much safer
than older methods in which muscles
were cut, thereby increasing risk of nerve
damage.
Important Tidbits!
If you want to look like you did in
your twenties you are dreaming. In fact
with those kind of expectations a good
surgeon would not even consider you as
a patient. But he would give you a fresher more youthful appearance, turning
back the clock a good eight-ten years.
His goal is to give a rejuvenated natural
look steering far away from the “I just
had a face-lift” pulled look.
You really need to be at your desired
weight before considering cosmetic facial surgery. Why? Because just as your
body expands and contracts so does
your face- -and if after a face lift you decide to lose weight, the new tightness
will quickly become more sag. If that
isn’t motivation to get in shape, tell me
what is - and see you
at the gym!
Judit is the owner of Change of Pace
Fitness Center, central Ajijic. She can be
reached at 766-5800
or email: rajhathy@
gmail.com.
Judit Rajhathy

Letter to the Editor

D

ear Sir:
Religion can be both
frustrating and amusing.
Some Protestant groups, with frightful
fervor, resist the science of biology and
geology. There is nothing more criminal to education than the Christian
Right that dominates the Texas State
Board of Education. They sabotage science and history in school textbooks
by dismissing evolution and Thomas
Jefferson.
But neither is the foolishness of religion without humor. The Church finally
gave Copernicus a proper Catholic funeral mass after banning him for several centuries. He died in 1543, almost
470 years ago. The Church embraced
him (and his work) in May of 2010.
The Catholic Church is outrun only by
snails and glaciers. Guadalajara is more
advanced, having long celebrated Copernicus by naming a city street after
him.
I rejoice that I have lived long
enough to see Copernicus given a
proper Catholic funeral celebration.
His own patience in this was no doubt
helped by his understanding of the
movements of celestial bodies.
Copernicus had been restless in an
unmarked place. DNA testing of his
bones matched a lock of his hair that
had been left in a book, thus providing
positive identity. His resting place is
now beneath the floor of a cathedral in
Poland, after his remains were blessed
with holy water by the highest-ranking clergy of that country. There was
an honor guard for the mass. A black
granite tombstone now identifies him
as the founder of the heliocentric theory. The tombstone is decorated with
a golden sun encircled by six planets,
no doubt those of which he was aware
in his time. Oh, and they include the
Earth.
The Church interpreted Holy Scrip-

ure
e tto
o pl
plac
acce th
he Ea
EEarth
rth
rt
h an
and
d hu
huma
man
ma
n be
be-ture
place
the
human
ings in the center of the universe, with
the Sun revolving around the Earth.
Copernicus died two months after his
work was published, so he avoided
a heresy trial. The Church placed his
work on their list of forbidden books,
however.
Galileo came along and continued
the work of Copernicus, and was tried
for heresy. He recanted and thereby escaped burning at the stake, but he was
put under house arrest for the rest of
his life.
Galileo was rehabilitated in 1992
by Pope John Paul II when he acknowledged that the Church had erred in
condemning Galileo for asserting that
the Earth revolves around the Sun. Now
Copernicus has finally got his turn at
rehabilitation, and after so many centuries, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not likely that either Galileo
or Copernicus would quibble over the
18 years difference in their restoration
to Catholic respectability. But I privately wonder whether in the intervening
centuries their souls have not switched
to the Lutheran side.
The Church has now advanced
from its hoary and venerable theology
to agree with the heliocentric theory,
meaning that the Sun is the center of
the universe. The Republican Party is
divided by an internal struggle over
which of them is conservative enough.
When it comes to conservative values,
Republicans would do well to take a
lesson from the Catholic Church.
Fred Mittag
Villas de San Pablo

Saw you in the Ojo 61

Anita’s Animals

By Jackie Kellum

Anita Strehlow

Y

es, there is an Anita of
Anita’s Animals. Anita
Strehlow came from Germany to Mexico in 1966, and has
been involved in cat/dog rescue for
the last 20 plus years. For some readers this is new information, for others
it may be re-familiarization of things
you already know.

62

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

Anita’s Animals is a small cat and
dog no-kill sanctuary, situated half
way up the road to the Raquet Club
in San Juan Cosala. It is not a fancy
place, but it is a safe haven full of love
and caring for cats and dogs that are
brought to Anita. Her unspoken mission in life, although it may not have
started out that way, is to provide shelter, food and medical care for those
unfortunate cats and dogs that were
abandoned and/or abused by human
society. On any given day, there may
be 30 – 40 kittens/ cats, and 30- 45
puppies/dogs in residence. This past
“puppy and kitten season” has been

particularly high and extended, creating a higher population.
Anita currently has approximately
120 kittens/cats and about 70-75 puppies/dogs. Anita strongly believes in
cat/dog population control via spaying & neutering. However, she will not
turn away a pregnant mother that is
close to delivering her young, so the
rescued mother will not have her babies alone and in harm’s way. Anita
will spay those mothers at the right
time so they will not perpetuate more
unwanted off -spring. A cat or dog
that comes to Anita’s will be cared for
until adopted into a loving family and
forever home.
Anita is not a person who has a
sanctuary and only spends several
hours a day there – she lives there.
The cats and dogs she cares for live
at her house in their own rooming accommodations, right next to her unpretentious living quarters. The cats/
dogs have indoor housing at night
time to keep them warm, dry and safe.
In the daytime, they spend their time
in a communal setting. Anita has a
few modestly paid dedicated helpers
who work six days a week, 4 -6 hours a
day, providing her assistance with the
general work such feeding, kennel
cleaning, transporting to Veterinarian appointments, picking up dona-

tions when requested, responding to
a phone call for help in rescuing and
picking up a cat or dog, etc.
Anita is at the Wednesday Ajijic
open-market/tianguis each week, rain
or shine. When most of us are turning over in our beds at 6AM, Anita is
already set up at the market ready for
work. Her stand has available donated
used paperback books, clothing and a
variety of other things. Please consider Anita when you are “spring house
cleaning.” Donations obtained from
the “sale” of these items pays for this
cat/dog rescue work. Anita frequently
has kittens and puppies with her that
are available for free adoption. Older
/ larger cats/dogs are not allowed
at the market, but they can be seen
when visiting her sanctuary, 7 days a
week: 9A-2PM and 4P – 6PM. Phone
# 387-761-0500. Adoptions are free
with the expectation that the new
“parents” will give them a loving home
and care for life. If new parents offer
a donation, it is gladly accepted and
will be used for the next cat or dog
that no doubt will arrive shortly.
Stop by and meet Anita at the Ajijic market or visit her sanctuary. Better yet, go home with a life long companion, who will never stop rewarding
you for your decision.

Saw you in the Ojo 63

Focus on Art
By Rob Mohr

Jay Koppelman:
A Journey from Darkness into Life

F

rom his early success as
an actor in The Lion in
Winter with the Banyan
Professional Theatre in Sarasota
Florida, to Romeo and Juliet at the
Kennedy Center in Washington, and
in several movies including, The Fanatical Teachings of Julian Tau (2000)
and The Accountant (2000), Jay Koppelman, unable to find work, entered a downward spiral that left
him deeply depressed, homeless,
and living out of a car on the streets
of Sarasota and New York. “I lost
my capacity to love what was once
loved.”
Remembering hiking in Mexico
as a youth, and the uncritical support of his father in Ajijic, Jay escaped to Mexico where with the
help of a professional counselor and
discovery of his father’s new camera,
he began to heal. Through the lens
of his father´s “transformative” camera he began to focus on the world
outside of himself. “Seeing beyond
myself, I came alive again.”
Jay soon realized that there are
no dead ends, and, digging deep, he
began to forge his remarkable life as
an artist/photographer. Seven years
later his powerful and evocative
photographs taken in Mexico grace
his new book The Through Line, A
Journey From Darkness into Life, and

recent photographs taken during a
three-month journey through Ecuador, on exhibit in Veronica Navarro´s
Studio 18 (18 Colon, Ajijic) further
demonstrate Jay’s maturity as an
artist. Many attending the opening
were excited by Jay’s consummate
ability to reveal what is seldom
seen.
While the trend in contemporary
photography is to manipulate the
image, Jay’s photographs, in contrast, capture the moment and bring
into focus the intrinsic aesthetic (the
truth) he finds in his subject. “Photography is my way of exploring life
- not following rules or doing what
others do, but holding fast to my desire to capture the ‘grittiness’ of the
subject.” Jay´s adept vision enables
unity between the subjects and the
viewer through the photograph.
For example, the dog peering out
from under the horse (exhibition)
reaches out and pulls the viewer
into the world of the photograph.
Being open and vulnerable and
seeing past the mask people wear
are keys to his art. In his photograph, Quechua Kids, as in Renaissance paintings, the textiles covering the young girls become a masterful visual element in the work.
The sweeping curve of the hooded
head-covering of the child on the

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

W

e are very pleased to
announce that Rob
Mohr has joined our
staff as Resident Art Critic. Rob
is especially qualified for this position. He has an MFA, taught Fine Arts
(painting, drawing and aesthetics) at
the University of Cincinnati, University of South Carolina and Western NC
University. He painted and studied in
Manhattan and later served as Faculty
Artist in Residence at the University of
Georgia.

64

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

Mr. Mohr hass
exhibited his works
ks
in many One Man
n Shows
in New York, Atlanta,
ta and
throughout the Southeast, and has
won awards for his paintings and
drawings in many national art exhibitions. His book on The Arts at Black
Mountain College was published by
East Tennessee University Press. Rob
has had stories and poems published
in national and international journals.
Welcome, Rob!

left is echoed perfectly by the curve
of the bread she eats. Equally refined,
is the graceful downward curve of
the shawl over the shoulders of the
child to the right. The positioning
of the children is in perfect balance
providing the viewer with a classically composed portrait of stunning
beauty. Jays Photos of indigenous
children rival highly acclaimed photos by Lisa Aviva Diamond of Peruvian children and Barbi Reed’s of
Tibetan Children.
Haunting and pungent works like
“Wet Dreams” (p14) evoke an eternal stillness while conveying a sense
of mystery created by the ethereal
lighting. The fisherman in his boat,
with oars extended - on what appears to be dry land (actually Lirio)
- looks inward as several boats move
across the lake. The full moon in the
upper left punctuates the mood
creating a dark, ambiguous reality.
A composed, well-dressed girl sitting in a tall doorway (P99) conveys
a similar feeling of absolute calm.
Other ‘lakescapes’ like Cormorants Roosting (p62) - where the
single tree filled with cormorants
to the left works as a counter to the
group of bird filled trees on the right
- and the knurled tree with a heron

perched on top (P92), are reminiscent of the stark serenity of photographic landscapes by Ansel Adams
(1902-1984). In both works, composition and details reveal a quicksilver
lake frozen in time.
Jay’s “Double Photo of Shuar
Children” is one of the most satisfying and playful photos in the exhibition at Studio 18. The upper panel
which reveals a group of children
standing serenely on a log, is juxtaposed against the lower panel
which reveals an outbreak of sheer
joy as the children leap in to the river. Both mood and content are perfect mated in this compelling photograph making these astounding
children forever part of the viewer’s
memory.
Jay Koppelman’s life as an actor, his subsequent rediscovery of
the world around him, his tenacious hold on life, his willingness
to take risks, his personal search
for beauty, and his innate awareness of the essential elements of
his art, work with
synergistic unity to
affirm the growing
stature of this photographic artist.
Rob Mohr

Saw you in the Ojo 65

Refugio De Maria
Fiction by James Tipton

I

t was so dry in recent years
that all of the pregnant
women in the Sonoran village of Refugio de María worried
that their sons would never grow
to be as tall as their fathers. It was
because of this they watched with
concern the village dwarf, Niño de
Dios, walk around Refugio de María
on little bowed legs.
His mother, Araceli, had named him
Niño de Dios because he was hardly a
human child at all, and he was not in
any reasonable visible sense her niño,
nor the niño of the proud man she
had married, a man who had headed
north forever only a few minutes after
his son was born.
As Niño de Dios grew he was generally tolerated by the adults, and
even loved by some, but he suffered
as all suffer who are not normal in the
way the world demands.
One afternoon, when Niño de Dios
was already in his late teens, with the
full-sized head of a rather handsome
man but with short arms and legs
and the body of a dwarf, several of
the young men who were strong but
undeveloped in their hearts decided
to tease him. They began tossing him
back and forth like a bale of hay. The
young women of the village watched
in horror.
Soon Niño de Dios lay in the dust.
A few drops of rain began to fall. He
gathered himself up and onto his feet
and announced to his torturers surrounding him that in doing this they

66

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

d ccursed
urs
rsed
ed R
Refugio
efugio
gio de
de María,
Marí
Ma
ríaa and
and that
tha
hatt
had
the rain, so badly needed, would now
ve on to another village, where a
move
child of God might be better treated.
The rain suddenly stopped.
Though his mother was no longer there to help him, Niño de Dios
now felt his own strength. Araceli had
made the final journey five years earlier. Hopefully, thought Niño de Dios,
she was now in that highly desirable
section of Heaven reserved for the
Mothers of Dwarfs.
That same spring Niño de Dios,
around the time of Lent, began dressing up as God, wearing a white robe, a
rather clean one at that, and a belt of
braided leather. When those undeveloped young men gathered again to
harass him, Niño de Dios bounded up
the few steps of the little church and
announced to the village that he had
been born into Refugio de María to
challenge them, to test their love for
Him, for God.
Blasphemy for sure, but the older
villagers warned those young men
not to bother him further. The villagers were worried, though, or disgusted, or irritated, or ashamed, and they
began to ignore Niño de Dios. Wives
who formerly had made sure he had
ample food and who gave him a few
pesos to run simple errands, no longer

opened their doors to him; and husbands, who had formerly helped him
up onto their horses—his favorite delight in the world—no longer looked
at him.
But certainly the most uncomfortable event in Refugio de María that
spring was when Serafina’s beautiful
daughter Esperanza, who was as perfect in body as Niño de Dios was not,
fell in love with him. Indeed, had his
handsome head been placed upon
the body of a normal man, the whole
village might have been in love with
Niño de Dios.
Since he had been a tiny boy, Niño
de Dios had often been seen following Esperanza around the village. But
now it was often Esperanza who followed Niño de Dios. Every evening,
they could be seen on the steps of the
church, his head resting sweetly in her
lap as she sang to him.
Why Esperanza fell in love with
the dwarf was anyone’s guess. Some
speculated that Niño de Dios possessed secret powers, perhaps dark
ones. Others thought that indeed,
he might be a Child of God, a gift to
the village. Still others, largely young
women, whispered that his manly
qualities might extend far beyond his
beautiful head.
At any rate, as the angels brushed
the earth with their wings, turning it
to autumn, one thing was soon evident: Esperanza was pregnant. The
husbands (more than one of whom
would like to have had Esperanza at
his heels) began to gather in the evenings at the Modelorama to drink Sol
and to discuss what was the most responsible, and manly, thing to do.
Some said “Kill the little monster,
or saint, or whatever he is,” while others, more moderate, cautioned, “Remember, he is, after all, the father of
her child, and who else would have
her now?” Still others said “Because
he claims to be God he should be
killed,” to which yet others replied,
“But haven’t we always been told to

be Godlike?”
The night they gathered together
at the plaza to make their final decision, one of the old wives informed
them that no one had seen Niño de
Dios, nor Esperanza, since dawn.
They couldn’t go far on foot. Had
they simply vanished? Had they been
set upon by some demented or jealous villager? One of the elders informed them that the only two fine
horses in the village as well as the silver communion cup that had served
Refugio de María for more than two
centuries had also disappeared.
The angels brushed the earth
again and autumn turned to winter.
Still there was no rain. And no Esperanza and no Niño de Dios. And now
it was the Holy Season, and the Fiesta
de Guadalupe, and then the nine days
before Christmas. Serafina wept as
she remembered when Esperanza, as
a little girl, had been chosen to play
María and ride around the village on
a donkey led by a little boy. That had
been so long ago.
Now it was Noche Buena…Christmas Eve.
Tonight all of Refugio de María
were gathered at the plaza, watching
the Heavens and hoping for their return.

Saw you in the Ojo 67

SERGIO DRUMOND is an artist,
theologian and writer. Born in Brazil,
he worked in Europe and Asia as a
book illustrator, cartoonist, painter
and animator. He also lived in the
Philippines, Japan, and Thailand,
teaching art as well as helping NGOs
with social and relief work. He and
his wife, Cynthia, live at Lakeside. For
commission painting and other artwork please contact him at:
https://sites.google.com/site/
sdrumondart/
Email: sdrumond777@gmail.com
Ed. Note: Sergioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cartoons are done especially for the Ojo and will be run on a monthly
basis. Welcome, Sergio!

his is a beautifully staged
and professional revival of
Noel Coward’s classic “improbable farce” of 1941, featuring
connubial love and haunting from
beyond the grave. The joke of the
play is that the suave novelist “Charles
Condomine” unwittingly summons the
spirit of his dead first wife “Elvira,” much
to the annoyance of his brittle second
wife “Ruth.” It’s bigamy with a difference, and confusion abounds since it
appears that only Charles can see and
chat to Elvira. Though the play’s social
attitudes now seem dated and misogynistic, we can still enjoy the smooth dialogue and the digs at phony mediums
and spiritualist mumbo-jumbo.
David McIntosh (a newcomer to
the LLT stage) plays Charles with considerable skill and an occasional flash
of asperity. The play requires him to
be a charming foil to the more colorful
female characters, and he succeeds so
well that in the end we hope that the
unfortunate Charles will be happy to
be rid of both his wives. The playful and
seductive Elvira is well portrayed by
Diana Rowland, who floats around the
stage in a diaphanous gown. It’s a fun
part, and she gets the most out of her
humorous lines – for example when
she reminisces about playing backgammon with Genghis Khan on “the
other side.” Meanwhile Katie B. Goode
(in her first full LLT production) has to
be snippy as Ruth, who is distinctly
unimpressed by Elvira’s return. This is
a less sympathetic, but very important
role, and Katie handles it well – being in
turn a disciplinarian with the maid, an
elegant hostess and a jealous wife.

70

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

The highlight of the evening is
Jeritza McCarter’s performance as the
medium “Madame Arcati.” This is a
role entirely suited to Jeritza’s comic
talents, and she plays it exactly right,
that is to say she plays it straight as an
eccentric and slightly loony character.
The play lights up as soon as she appears in a glittery shawl and spangled
tennis shoes, speaking of ectoplasm
and of “Daphne,” her child control on
the other side. Initially her incantations
fail to bring Elvira back, but then “Edith”
the maid peeks in and this seems to
make a difference. Joan Lowy – another
newcomer to the LLT stage – does well
in a minor role as Edith, bustling in and
out with trays (which must have been
precarious) and finally appearing in
pajamas and goofy slippers to assist in
banishing the ghosts of Elvira and Ruth.
John Foster and Kathleen Morris are
also entirely believable in supporting
roles as “Dr and Mrs Bradman.”
With the help of a talented cast,
Shirley Appelbaum has brought off a
triumph with this production, her first
at Lakeside. I fancy the ghost (or perhaps the ectoplasm) of Noel Coward
was hovering in the wings! The period
costumes and delightfully decorated
set were straight out of the 1940s. I
should also mention the very clever and
believable special effects – technically
this is a difficult play, and it succeeded
brilliantly. One small point – I wondered
why the curtain was never closed. With
such an attractive set, the initial impact
would have been greater if it had been
revealed as a wonderful surprise at the
opening of the play. But this is a quibble - overall it was a smooth and very
professional production, and I congratulate Shirley Appelbaum and the
whole cast and crew with a special nod
to Stage Managers
Kathleen Neal and
Win McIntosh. I
look forward next
month to another
farcical comedy
Lend Me A Tenor,
by Ken Ludwig,
which opens on
December 11th.
Michael Warren

Saw you in the Ojo 71

Cocktails With Nefertiti
By Herbert W. Piekow

T

he first thing I noticed
about her was the leopard
spotted blouse and the
way the spots moved on her ample
breasts as she maneuvered towards where I sat alone enjoying
my evening cocktail on Chapultepec Avenue. Most evenings, when
I am in my Guadalajara apartment,
I like to sit on the stone benches on
Chapultepec where I can feel the vibrancy of the city and observe the
people and traffic. After making eye
contact, she approached, as I knew
she would; I noticed the spots on her
skirt were darker brown than the almost orange spots of her blouse and I
surmised the two pieces had definitely
been purchased independently from
one another, but worn with pride.
I stood, she extended her hand;
“My name is Nefertiti, like the Queen
of Egypt.” I thought of responding by
saying something like, “You’re not the
first queen I’ve met,” but instead was
surprised by her firm grip and whiff
of good perfume as we touched right
cheeks.

72

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

“Vamos a sentarnos!” I said indicating a spot on the bench for us to sit.
“I am from Tijuana,” she volunteered. “Where are you from?”
I didn’t know if she wondered about
my obvious accent, which a Mexican
woman recently described as, “pretty,” or if Nefertiti wanted to know my
whole history. We chatted a little, she
crossed her legs, pulled the printed nylon skirt above, her thick knees, kicked
off one of her dark brown high heeled
shoes and said; “I would like a drink, if
you bring me one.”
I took a sip from my nearly empty
tumbler. “I only have tequila, vodka
and Squirt.”
“Whatever you drink,” she said and

pointed an index finger with a silver
ring towards my glass. Her wrists looked
to be stronger and thicker than mine. I
stood, took my glass and assured her I
would return, “muy pronto.” As I locked
the apartment complex gate behind
me I looked to where Nefertiti sat with
her slightly hunched back facing my
building and I wondered whatever
have I done?
I thought about making a couple of
quesadillas, but in the interest of time
cut up some imported goat cheese
and opened a foiled packet of Saladitas
which I arranged on a plate; mixed our
drinks, put a couple of napkins on the
tray and left the apartment wondering
if I would drink alone, or get to know
more of Nefertiti.
She sat with her still crossed legs,
hands folded, lady-like in her lap and a
smile on her face. Her lower teeth were
a shade darker than her looser fitting
uppers. “I’m glad you came back,” she
said, and reached for a proffered drink
on the round rattan serving tray.
I didn’t know where to begin, as I
felt I’d already encouraged her friendship with my hospitality. “What brings
you to Guadalajara from Tijuana?” My
question was more to fill the silence
and a polite way to gain knowledge of
my guest.
“My daughter is sick, she is in the
hospital,” she said as she swallowed

half her drink.
Everyone on the street corner always has a sick child with liver orkidney
failure, I thought, not at all surprised by
her response.
“She has failure of the riñon.” A
pained look crossed her heavily made
up face.
“I am very sorry,” my words seemed
as false as my concern. I wondered
which would come first, a request for
money or a sip of her drink.
She wrapped her fingers with their
blunt, but red polished nails, around
the tumbler, the ice clinked, she sipped
at the tequila and Squirt before saying,
“I’m clean.”
“That’s nice.” It’s been years since
I’ve slept with a woman and had no inclination to do so now.
“I need $300 pesos for my rent.” She
spoke quickly probably realizing I was
not going to allow her to earn anything
through trade.
“I’ll do what I can,” I said, handing
her some pesos from my wallet. I have
always tried to be charitable to those
in need, just as Jesus and the Prophet
Mohammed instructed. With a gracious smile Nefertiti accepted less than
her stated needs; she finished her cocktail and rose to leave. I rose to wish her
well, we embraced for our goodbyes
and as we brushed cheeks I thought,
Nefertiti needs a shave.

Saw you in the Ojo 73

GRINGAS
G
RINGAS & G
GUACAMOLE
UACAMOLE
By Gail Nott

Nudist Camp Etiquette

O

ne should always be open
to new experiences. So,
when my friend, Rick, invited me to spend the next Saturday at a
nudist camp in Central Florida, I agreed
without a moment’s hesitation. A hectic work-week allowed me little time
to reflect upon my decision. Denial is
a wonderful gift that the conscious
mind offers us and I wallowed in it.
Saturday morning I was frantic over
what to wear! I discarded bathing suit
after bathing suit, lamenting that they
were all stretched out and faded. Then
realization crept in, I was going to be
wearing the oldest and most worn
suit I owned: my birthday suit. Denial
wormed its way back in and I was faced
with the next fashion challenge. How
do you accessorize nudity: pearl earrings or gold hoops; which sandals,
subdued or flashy sunglasses? I opted
for the pearl studs, hoping to appear
chic.
For the two- hour drive to the nudist camp, Rick and I gossiped, chatted
and listened to music. Rick was trying
to put me at ease, which I thought was
thoughtful but unnecessary. After all,
I was a sophisticated career woman
with few inhibitions about nudity; I
was a veteran of the sexual wars.
As we drove through the manned
security gates, I glanced to my right
and gasped. My God, there was a bare
butt staring back at me through the
window. Whatever happened to common decency? I reassured myself that

74

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

when we registered at the office, everyone would be dressed. Crossing
the threshold, my eyes quickly riveted
to the ceiling; the room was filled with
naked people. Sliding my sunglasses
firmly onto the bridge of my nose, I felt
repulsed at this lack of discrimination.
These people would show their bodies
to anyone.
Rick was giving off soft chuckles as
he led me to the dressing, uh, undressing area. Fortunately, no one was in the
room as I darted behind the curtain of a
stall. I took deep breaths, lecturing myself that I was an adult and reasonably
worldly. Still dressed, I poked my head
from behind the curtain upon hearing
my name called. “Gail, you have been in
there half an hour.” “If you don’t come
out, I am coming in for you.”
Okay, sunglasses in place, check;
beach towel wrapped tightly around
me, check; book, suntan oil, sandals,
check. I could do this. I sprinted out
of the stall and onto the first vacant
lounge chair, congratulating myself on
my bravery. The feeling of smugness
quickly dissipated as Rick reminded
me this was a nudist camp and staying
wrapped in a towel was unacceptable.
Struggling to unwrap the towel while
lying flat, I inched it to the ground. My

sunglasses were my sole link to invisibility. Rick, stretched out full length,
naked no less, was soaking up the sun.
I couldn’t miss the grin on his face.
Rick had been a long-time member
of the nudist camp and people continually stopped by to say hello. My vision
became blurry from looking into the
sun. As hands were extended in greeting, too late I realized I was reaching
toward the most personal parts of their
anatomy. How did one handle this situation? Miss Manners never covered decorum at a nudist camp in any of her
books.
Rick suggested I might be more
comfortable in the pool. Trying to appear nonchalant, I sauntered from my
chair and walked off the edge of the
pool into ten feet of water. Immediately, I sank to the bottom. Panicking,
I began grabbing arms, legs, uh, whatever was available to speed my way to
the surface. Grasping the pool’s edge,
coughing and sputtering, I spotted
a pair of bare feet in front of me. The
lifeguard stooped down, oh my God!
“Ma’am, intimate contact with other
swimmers is strictly forbidden.”
Over the loudspeaker came the
announcement that lunch was being
served in the dining room. Rick informed me that towels were required. I
felt that I had just been given a reprieve

and encased myself like an Italian sausage with the towel. As we entered,
row upon row of bare behinds came
into view. I turned searchingly toward
Rick. “Towels are required for hygienic
reasons; you have to sit on them.”
The menu included hot sandwiches, soups and salads. The visual image
of my luncheon companions spooning hot soup across their naked laps
made me wince. I chose a salad; Eve
had used a little foliage in the Garden
of Eden. Shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, cucumber pieces and onion rings
dispelled my illusion.
By late afternoon and two double
Scotch, I congratulated myself on how
adventuresome and uninhibited I had
become. I began to realize that “behind”
the nudity were people of all ages, sizes, races and nationalities. Many Europeans lived at the camp for extended
periods and others spent weekends
with their young children, as a retreat
from hectic nine to five lives. Nudity
was most certainly an equalizer.
Rick asked me if I would like to visit
again. My close friend and confidante,
denial, reappeared and I said yes. Complacent, I entered the dressing area for
the ride home. As I hooked, zippered
and buttoned I experienced excruciating pain. Oh God, I had forgotten to
use sun-screen.

ary Rosenblum is a
fiction and
science fiction
mystery writer who
published her first story in 1990
and her first novel The Drylands
in 1993. It won the Compton Book
Award for Best First Novel and since
then she has penned seven more.
From 1992 to 2002, she wrote the
Gardening Mysteries series under
her maiden name, Mary Freeman.
As a result, she has two sets of loyal
followers: the ones who devour her
mysteries and those who eat up her
science fiction.
Mary says her writing began before she could actually write, when
she was a bored little girl forced to
accompany her mother on shopping trips: “I entertained myself by
making up stories about escapades
of imaginary creatures in the fascinating universe that existed at the
floor level of Kaufmann’s and Gimbels.” At school, she was not encouraged by her teachers: “You had to
be born a writer, apparently, and
I lacked the scarlet W on the forehead.” It wasn’t until much later that
she began writing her stories down,
but once she got rolling there was
no stopping her.
Mary teaches at The Long Ridge
Writers Group, an online/by mail
writing school where she recently

78

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

designed
the Long Ridge Novel
desiign
desi
de
gn
gned
Nove
course with Pam Kelly
Kelly. She also
teaches at workshops and conferences, most recently the Willamette
Writers Conference held in Portland,
Oregon, in August 2010.
“I love each new student,” Mary
says. Each one is a new adventure
and I do my best, in our time together, to make that student as strong
in his or her ability as I can.” Mary
Rosenblum will lead two sessions titled: Revisions: Strengthen Your Voice
(the nuts and bolts of editing) and
Publishing Today: Idea to Audience (a
survival guide for authors confused
by today’s digital world).
Mary will be joined by New York
Times bestselling author Robert
Dugoni, who has been likened to
a young John Grisham and called
“the undisputed king of the legal
thriller.” He has written five best
selling novels in this genre: Bodily
Harm, Wrongful Death, The Cyanide
Canary, The Jury Master and Damage Control.
Robert Dugoni graduated in
Journalism from Stanford University, worked for a time as a reporter,
returned to university to study law
and practiced his new profession
until his love of writing won out
and he quit to become a full time
novelist. He is an experienced and

dynamic public speaker whose topics for the lakeside conference are:
Bringing Your Writing to Life and Creating Memorable Characters.
Lakeside writers can learn from
these two professionals by attending the 7th Annual Writers Conference which will be held January 26th
– 28th at the Hotel Real de Chapala.
Conference organizers guarantee
that even if you were not born a
writer and lack the W on your forehead, you can still improve your
skills.
This year there will be two new
features: registrants can have their
work critiqued by retired creative
writing teacher Jay White on January 27th from 7 till 9:30 p.m., and a
sales table will be set up for registrants with books to sell. Conference
planners are resurrecting last year’s
hilarious worst sentence contest.
You can register at Diane Pearl’s
Gallery on the corner of Colon and
Ocampo or at the Friday Writers
Group at La Nueva Posada or by
contacting Kay Davis at kdavis@
gmail.com. The cost is $950 pesos
before Christmas, $1150 after, and
includes four sessions, two lunches
plus coffee and snacks.

From A Pair
of Sconces
Every year at Christmas time,
Consider all the verse and rhyme
Recited, written, heard and sungThe verses roll right
off your tongue.
And so today yule not see Kringle
Rhyming with a single jingle.
Instead, we’re sending hope and cheers
Meant to last down
through the years.
Yet come next year we
both may find
A deep felt need to get behind
A push to versify in rhyme
The thoughts we have
at Christmas time.
But for now, let’s wish you well
Merry Christmas!
Mark & Lell

Saw you in the Ojo 79

CHILD

of the month

By Rich Petersen

Alan José Bravo Alvizo

Y

ou can’t tell from the
photo, but seven-year
old Alan Bravo Alvizo
is sitting in his red wheelchair because he is unable to walk. Alan
was born with a form of cerebral paralysis (also known as cerebral palsy)
that renders him unable to control his
lower extremities or support himself
while standing without additional
support.
Alan was the product of a normal
pregnancy until the sixth month when
he and a twin brother were born quite
prematurely. His brother did not survive, unfortunately; this is a common
occurrence when cerebral paralysis is
involved.
Alan lives in Ixtlahuacán with his
parents, Karla and Roberto. His mother is a housewife and his father works
as a delivery driver for a company in
Guadalajara. They have no other children.
Alan has a “form” of cerebral paralysis because this motor deficit can occur in one or more places in the body.
Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to
the motor control centers of the developing brain and can occur during
pregnancy, during childbirth or after
birth up to about age three.
This results in limitation in movement and is often accompanied by
disturbances of sensation, depth perception and other sight-based perceptual problems, communication ability,
and sometimes even cognition; sometimes a form of CP may be accompanied by epilepsy. CP, no matter what
the type, is often accompanied by
secondary musculoskeletal problems,
and there is no known cure.
Fortunately for Alan, however, he
only lacks the muscle control of his
lower extremities and has none of the
other problems mentioned above.
He is a bright boy as you can see in
the photo, very good in school and
always with a ready smile. He and
his father play at “boxing” and Alan
loves to watch basketball. And while

80

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

Alan of course can’t run a soccer ball
down the field, he is good enough as
a goalie that his friends let him play
that position! Kudos to his friends and
to his parents for allowing him to participate with other kids his age. This
is of utmost importance to the social
development of a child with cerebral
palsy.
Niños Incapacitados has been paying for Alan’s twice weekly therapy
sessions as well as transportation
costs to and from Guadalajara; also
for a leg brace and several medications. Recently Alan was treated with
an injection of botox to help relax the
muscles in his legs. As you may recall,
botox is now being used in this way to
alleviate spasticity and contractures.
We at Niños Incapacitados were
delighted to meet Alan and his mother at our last meeting and to have
him tell us “thank you” in quite good
English. By the way, his mother let us
know that Alan had told her the night
before he was to be at our meeting
that he wanted to “look very nice” and
dressed up for us----and he did.
To meet other of “our” children and
to learn more about what Niños Incapacitados does, please join us the second Thursday of each month for our
members’ meeting. 10:00 a.m. at the
Hotel Real de Chapala in La Floresta.
A special and continued THANK YOU
to all of you who have donated to our
“Sustaining Niños” pledge program
which allows us to continue helping
sick children here at Lakeside.

The proposed new LCS Constitution has been released for your
review and will be ready for your vote at the extraordinary meeting called for that purpose on Tuesday, December 14. Let me
review with you some of the important reasons that this new
governing document deserves your vote. First, as you’ve probably heard many times now, we currently have four active governing documents dating back to our first constitution drafted in
1979 and including the most recent amendments to the bylaws
in 2002. Much of the history and objectives of LCS are embodied in these documents, but they have become cumbersome
and convoluted as one change has come on top of another. It
is now necessary to dig through these multiple layers to solve
questions of governance as they arise. The new constitution
includes all of the objectives of the founders of LCS and brings
them together with modern concepts in easy to understand language so that LCS can continue to operate and grow.

There is so much going on right now it is hard to get my thoughts
together. The number one order of business has been to prepare
a new constitution for ratification by the membership. Howard’s
article emphasizes the work that has been done, and why. I would
like to state that having worked in non-profits north of the border
my entire professional life, the document at hand is of paramount
importance. The constitution of a non-profit is its cornerstone.
The proposed constitution will give LCS the foundation it needs to
succeed in the future. Please read it, and vote for it; LCS needs it.

We’ve listened to the comments and criticisms and have reviewed and improved upon last year’s draft in many ways. For
instance there is now a direct reference to our libraries and a
commitment to meet our communities’ needs. Types of memberships are more clearly defined and any proposed changes
in the future will have to be ratified by the membership. Other
responsibilities of the members and the board are now clearly
stated. The establishment of a quorum and what constitutes a
majority vote have been better defined. Staggered terms for
board members have been reestablished to insure a smooth
continuity of governance in the future. The position of Executive
Director has been permanently established so that the operations of LCS will continue to be managed in a professional manner. References to Mexican law have been clarified.
The work to develop this new constitution was taken on by a
group of dedicated volunteers who worked countless hours to
draft and refine the document. In addition to your president and
executive director, the team included Hebina Hood, Beverly
Gardner, Education Director Mary Alice Sargent, Vice President
Fred Harland and Audit and Advisory Committee Chair Keith
Martin. As the team neared the completion of its task, it circulated a draft to a wider circle of members seeking comments
which were then integrated into the final proposal.
Please take the time to read and understand this constitution
and vote for its adoption on December 14th. The future of LCS
is in your hands.
Howard Feldstein
A PDF of the proposed Constitution can be found at:
http://www.lakechapalasociety.org/

82

December 2010

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

2011 will bring significant changes to LCS. The most visible one
will be the integration of a common computerized membership,
library, and video system. Similar to coping with four constitutions
and consolidating them into one, the new system will take three
separate databases and unify them into a single package. As with
any change this one has its pros and cons. The cons include:
volunteers having to learn a new computer program, consolidating
family members into a single membership number, and any untold
number of glitches and failures. However the pros will allow LCS
to manage all of its affairs more efficiently. Members will be able
to post their wish-lists to the library or video on line. Eventually
we may have a reservation system. Daily reports and financial
accountability will enter the modern age. The service desk will
scan membership cards assuring that only members are receiving
membership-only services. Bring your membership card! Though
I look forward to its implementation, it is a huge undertaking,
consuming a lot of my time.
A new policy will go into effect in January. It is meant to protect
members from exposure to unprincipled business practices. In
2011, all for-profit entities, individuals or businesses, will be required
to have on file, in the office, documents attesting to their credentials
and legality for conducting said business in Mexico. They will also
be required to provide, at all times, an evaluation instrument for you
to fill out and take to the office. Access to LCS members will only be
allowed through ongoing positive evaluation by LCS members. As
the year goes on, additional policies will be implemented, all aimed
at providing fair and consistent service to our membership.
Computer classes are back on the menu in 2011. With a newly
fitted computer lab at the Wilkes Education Center, LCS will begin
offering a limited number of computer classes to LCS members.
There will be a nominal charge for the classes. Next month’s
newsletter will have more details. Presently, we’re still looking
for qualified volunteer teachers. Intro to computers, Intro to the
Internet and Intro to Productivity Software will be offered. Email
Bert Slocombe at slocomberector@live.com if you’re interested.

December 2010
LCS SPANISH TEACHER PROFILES
Sra. Lourdes Ramos
LCS’ Warren Hardy Spanish teacher,
known to family, friends, and acquaintances
as LuLu says her students show an
enormous interest in learning the Spanish
language and Mexican culture, resulting
in a challenging and gratifying experience
for all - “after working hard for 6 months
the students can communicate and have
basic conversation. Congratulations to
all my students. Your great effort will
bring you success in learning Spanish.
We Mexicans appreciate and value your
efforts. It is admirable.”
Noemé Laffitte
Noemé’s motto is bi-social, bi-lingual,
and bi-focused! Her class includes local
tours to numerous points of interest that
teach you how to use your language
skills where it matters - on the street!
Noemé is looking forward to her second
year as LCS’ Spanish Conversation
teacher.
Rich Petersen
Rich teaches Intro to Spanish, which includes
pronunciation, basic grammar and vocabulary,
preparing students for LuLu’s Level 1. In his 6th
year, Rich works year round, but takes a break in
April, August and December. Students enjoy his
informal approach and the classes’ openness to
questions on language and culture.
LCS’ Spanish classes - for members only.
The Intro class is a four-week session for $150 pesos per person,
materials included. Class meets on Thursdays from 12 to 1:30, in the
Gazebo.
The Warren Hardy classes (Levels 1-4) are seven-week sessions and
we offer 6 sessions each year. These classes take place in the Wilkes
Education Center (WEC) and cost $600 pesos per session. Materials
are not included. Classes are twice a week, one and a half hours each.
Schedules are announced the week prior to each session.
The Conversation class follows the same schedule as the Warren Hardy
classes. It costs $400 pesos per session and there may be an additional
fee for materials. The first class is at the WEC, but Noemé hosts the rest
in her home. Classes are once a week and the schedule is announced
the week prior to each session.

LCS LEARNING SEMINARS
Tues. December 7, Noon, chaired by Fred Harland featuring (via
a TED internet podcast) John Francis with a moving and inspiring
presentation – “Walking the Earth to Save the Planet.” Seeing a
major oil spill in the San Francisco Bay in 1971 led Francis to make
radical changes in his life. He gave up talking and riding in vehicles
for 17 years. His courageous journey sends us a message to make
our best effort to get a better world.
Tues. December 21, Noon, chaired by Fred Harland featuring
(via a TED internet podcast) “Jill Bolte Taylor’s Stroke of Insight.”
Taylor was a neuroscientist working at Harvard’s brain research
center when she had a blood clot in her left brain, became aware of
her right brain and “experienced nirvana”. Her message is that this
experience of deep contentment “is part of the capacity of the human
mind.” And that people can choose to live a more peaceful, spiritual
life by sidestepping their left brain.

POST LIFE
PLEASE Come in and sign-your post life documents, we have a
back-log of unsigned originals. You know who you are if you have
filled in a post life form in the last 6 months.... THANKS!

Do you have staff? If so, don’t forget to pay them Mexico’s Christmas bonus the “Aguinaldo” this month (it’s
the law)!
To calculate, take their weekly pay, divide it by 7, then
multiply the result by 15.
Pay it by December 20.
Example: weekly pay = $1000 pesos, so, 1000/7 =
142.86, 142.86*15 = 2142.9 so the bonus is $2143 pesos!

84

El Ojo del Lago / December 2010

REMINDER - It’s time to renew your membership. If you want to be listed in the 2011 Directory you will need to renew by December 15.

TRANSFER your old VHS to DVD
A service offered in the Video Library
ONLY 50 pesos each!

GREENTRANSITIONS IN ACTION PRES-

SINGLES MIX & MATCH GROUP

ENTS:

TWO DECEMBER EVENTS:

December 13 at 11:30 AM in the Sala
“THE MOST EXCELLENT DYING OF THEODORE JACK
HECKELMAN” an award-winning film on the subjects of Conscious Dying and Home Death Care (some scenes shot in Ajijic).
Discussion to follow with Linda Bergh, Psychologist and Founding Member of the Minnesota Threshold Network and Louraisha
Shaw, local Reiki Teacher (Reiki for Palliative Care).

LCS will be closed on
Saturday 12/25, for Christmas
Friday 12/31, for new years eve
‘Tis the Season to Donate to the
Casi Nuevo Thrift Shop.

WED., DECEMBER 1 - “SOCIALIZER/HAPPY HOUR”
TUES., DECEMBER 14 - “LAKE PANORAMA PARTY’
December 1 - “Singles Socializer”, on the back patio
from 5 to 7 PM. A unique opportunity for Lakesiders to
meet and greet other singles, enjoy botanas and a Happy
Hour. Afterwards, the get-together continues at a nearby
restaurant.
December 14 - “Lake Panorama Party” excursion boat
launches from the Ajijic Pier at 2 PM, for a 3-hour voyage
offering spectacular views and guided commentary at
points of special interest. Passengers will enjoy catered
food and unlimited free drinks for the all-inclusive price of
$260 pesos per person. The boat will return to the Ajijic Pier
at approximately 5 PM. A minimum of 40 passengers is
required. Sign-up in the LCS office.
For further information, log onto lcsmixnmatch@
yahoogroups.com, or email inajijicpat@yahoo.com.

FILM AFICIONADOS
Films and discussion 2nd, 4th and last Thursday in the Sala at 2 PM
THERE WILL BE THREE FILMS THIS MONTH ON THE BIG SCREEN
December 9 - TUYA’S MARRIAGE- 2006- China/Mongolia, 85 mins.
Set in Mongolia, this romantic drama follows Tuya’s journey as she tries to find a man who loves her enough to take care of her
children and disabled ex-husband.
December 23 - A CHRISTMAS TALE- 2008- France, 145 mins.
Holiday special! An artfully unconventional tale about the members of a dysfunctional family who come together for an animosityfilled Christmas reunion. This Cannes Film Festival top award winner features an all-star cast.
December 30 - ME AND ORSON WELLES- 2009- USA, 114 mins.
Set back in the days of the old Mercury Theatre, this new film, directed by Richard Linklater, gives us a slice of the larger-than-life
super-talent that was Orson Welles.
For LCS members to get on the Film Aficionado email list to receive notices and reviews of upcoming showings you can email:

◊ THE LCS NEWSLETTER IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY.
◊ DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS THE 17TH OF THE MONTH PRECEDING PUBLICATION.
◊ NEWS ITEMS CAN BE EMAILED TO BRIDGET DARBY, BRIDGET98USA@YAHOO.COM.

NOTE: THE EDITORIAL STAFF RESERVES THE RIGHT TO COMPLETE EDITING PRIVILEGES. ARTICLES AND/OR CALENDAR
EVENTS WILL BE INCLUDED ACCORDING TO TIME, SPACE AVAILABILITY AND EDITORIAL DECISION ON THE APPROPRIATENESS
OF THE INFORMATION FOR INCLUSION.

FOR SALE: 10 Lladró figurines (glazed)
in perfect condition, $2,400 - 5,500 pesos
each. Call: Brian Stockman at 766-2230
FOR SALE: Sweets book indexed
catalog and building construction Dated
1906. $500 pesos. Contact: Frank Raimo
FOR SALE: Packet of 50 beautiful
unused Mexican commemorative postage
stamps. Perfect to start your collection of
Mexican stamps or to send back north as
a special (and easy-to-mail) gift. Jim Tipton
765-7689.
FOR SALE: Two World War II US mess
kits (1943 Leyse), in fine condition. A perfect
gift for that old veteran, that young camper,
or for the collector who likes unusual items
of historical value. Only $100 pesos each.
Call Jim Tipton at 765-7689.
FOR SALE: I have hundreds of
duplicates of 19th and 20th century Mexican
stamps, both new and used, for sale. (Also
lots of Peru and Chile). Call: James Tipton
at 765-7689.